• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has no plans of importing sugar now, its administrator and chief executive officer Pablo Luis Azcona said.
This was the response of Azcona to the statement issued by the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters (NFSP), expressing concern on what it calls excessive sugar importation under Sugar Order No. 8.
He said that importation happens after milling, the last being July, adding that it is already October and milling is under a new crop year.
“(Agriculture) Secretary (Francisco) Tiu Laurel and I have agreed that there will be absolutely no talks of sugar importation until May or June 2026, when we already have concrete production numbers. Only then will we decide if we need imports or not unless, there is an obvious need for such,” the SRA chief stressed.
In an earlier statement, NFSP president Enrique Rojas said that while they agreed to an initial importation of 150,000 metric tons, more than such volume has already entered the country as of Sept. 14.
Azcona questioned why the NFSP is raising an issue when farmers know that any talk of importation brings speculation and lowers the farmers’ sugar price.
“That is why I don’t understand where these statements are coming from,” Azcona said. “Maybe their main intention is to lower the farmer price and destabilize the sugar industry.”
The SRA chief said all importation under his administration have been consultative, calibrated, and objectively allocated based on performance.
“This is clearly evidenced by stable farmgate and retail prices,” Azcona said. | GB
