June 14, 2019
Jasper Y. Arcalas (Business Mirror) | https://bit.ly/2KjYk3U
THE government is looking at amending the Price Act to pinpoint the agency that has jurisdiction over the sale of sugar, as it seeks to ensure that the retail price of the sweetener will remain “reasonable.”
Sugar Regulatory Administration officials told the BusinessMirror that the SRA and the Department of Agriculture (DA) are now working with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to review the provisions of the Price Act.
The review of the law is in line with the government’s goal to set a suggested retail price (SRP) for sugar.
SRA officials noted that the Price Act, or Republic Act 7581, is unclear as to which agency should oversee and regulate the sale of sugar in the domestic market.
Setting an SRP for sugar will, they said, prevent unscrupulous traders from jacking up their prices without a valid basis.
The amendment of the Price Act was one of the measures identified by officials and stakeholders during a recent interagency meeting on the sugarcane industry.
“There is a jurisdictional issue insofar as local traders are concerned. There is a need to clarify if processed sugar remains under the jurisdiction of the DA or SRA for purposes of SRP,” SRA Board Member Roland Beltran, who represents the millers, told the BusinessMirror.
Beltran also said Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez’s recent statement that the deregulation of the sugar industry is now “off the table” shows that the government is “truly concerned” about the plight of over 65,00 small sugarcane farmers, workers and dependents of the industry.
SRA Board Member Emilio Yulo, who represents the planters, echoed Beltran’s remarks and vowed that the SRA “would work alongside the DTI and make sure both producers and consumers are equally protected.”
‘Price manipulation’
SRA Administrator Hermenegildo R. Serafica also expressed support for Lopez’s plan to investigate those who are manipulating the retail prices of sugar.
“Mill-gate prices have been low for several months yet some retailers and wholesalers insist on selling their sugar at exorbitant prices,” Serafica told the BusinessMirror.
The SRA has been urging the DTI for months now to look into retail prices since mill-gate prices have been stable since late last year.
“Certainly, the SRA is also determined to bring down retail prices considering that mill-gate prices are fair and, at the same time, remain reasonably profitable for producers,” Beltran said.
“We need to ensure our sugar supply is adequate to prevent speculation. This means that sugar imports is always an option to stabilize prices of sugar,” he added.
Planters said they will “always sell within reasonable prices as long as there are no other variables that will affect production cost,” according to Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations Inc. Spokesman Raymond Montinola.
“We welcome Secretary Lopez’s position that he is no longer supporting deregulation. We are glad that some of our Cabinet officials are finally seeing through the real situation,” Montinola told the BusinessMirror.
“We have been urging the DTI to look into the retail prices and we are glad that Secretary Lopez is finally acting on this matter,” he added.
Lopez told the BusinessMirror that the government is determined to pull down sugar prices, as requested by food manufacturers, but not through deregulation.
The DTI is also looking into the possibility that trader manipulation of prices accounts for the expensive local sugar. “As a policy, directionally, we want to make sure that sugar prices will be competitive,” Lopez said.
“To the extent that the local sugar producers can assure a competitive pricing and supply, then frankly there is no need to liberalize. We may not need liberalization,” he added.
Latest available SRA data showed the mill-gate price of raw sugar has remained below the P1,600 per 50-kilogram bag level since November 2018.
The mill-gate price of raw sugar has averaged P1,521.54 per 50-kg bag from November 2018 until May of this year.
Data from the SRA also showed that the average wholesale price of refined sugar has remained within the P2,200 to P2,250 range since November 2018.
Also, the prevailing retail price of raw sugar in Metro Manila is estimated at P40 per kg, while refined sugar sells at P50/kg.