07 February, 2011
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Page A21

Board orders curbs on sugar smuggling by checking premixes
By Carla Gomez
Inquirer Visayas

Bacolod City - The Sugar board has issued an order to prevent the smuggling of imported sugar into the country in the guise of premixes, Sugar Regulatory Administrator Gina Martin said on Thursday.

Premixes are food preparations that contain sugar with added flavoring and/or coloring. These are allowede to enter either at reduced or zero tariff, unlike imported sugar that is subjected to a 38-percent tariff.

Martin said the Sugar Board, which she chairs, issued an order on Tuesday to improve the system of issuing premix clearances.

"Laboratory analysis to differentiate sugar and premix will be conducted on all shipments requestiing clearance," she said.

The Confederation of Sugar Producers(Confed) Negros-Panay Chapter and the National Federation of Sugarcane Producers(NFSP) have scored the surge in the entry of premixes into the country, charging that it has slowed down the buying of domestically produced sugar by industrial users.

"There is an accepted concept by the World Customs Organization that any sweetened substance containing more than 65-percent sugar is sugar and should be subjected to tariff," Confed Negros Panay chairman Raymond Montinola said.

On the matter of sugar importation, Martin explained that the SRA has been conducting regular study of sugar supply levels in the country.

"With delayed milling due to weather and low production, the SRA will come up with a recommendation on importation at the right time," she added.