Hike in HFCS import clearance fee seen to curb use of artificial sugar

The substantial increase in the import clearance fee for high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is seen to limit the use of artificial sweeteners in the country.

In a statement released here on Friday, Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) chief Pablo Luis Azcona said the raise from PHP1.50 to PHP30 per equivalent bag of sugar was unanimously passed by the Sugar Board last month and forms part of Sugar Order (SO) 4.

The concern on ‘other sugars’ or artificial sweeteners entering the country was raised by the United Federation of Sugar Producers (UNIFED) president Manuel Lamata as well as other sugar leaders in Luzon and Mindanao to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel early last month.

“The SRA immediately acted on the concern. Thus, while the collection of data on the use of artificial sweeteners is ongoing, we discovered this and decided to immediately raise the SRA fees for HFCS,” Azcona said.

In early 2017, SRA started charging companies importing HFCS a clearance fee of PHP30 per bag, but the rate wa
s lowered a month later to only PPH1.50 per bag.

The SRA noted that this was suspected to partly cause the stagnating demand for domestic sugar in the past few years.

Only HFCS is strictly regulated under the tariff code HS (Harmonized System) 1702 of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature.

Azcona said another SO is being drafted based on the Aug. 6 meeting between Laurel and other sugar stakeholders, including millers, refiners, and farmers, where UNIFED raised the alarm on the entry of “other sugars” under the tariff code HS1702.

“This entails requiring importers of items under HS1702 to secure an import clearance from SRA, and this has been under board discussion since August,” he added.

The SRA chief noted that the alleged volume of imports under HS1702 is estimated to be around 200,000 tons, which is much higher than what some federations earlier said.

“We continue to verify the data as we have seen that this has been happening as far back as 10 years. This will
give us an accurate view and determine whether these ‘other sugars’ have caused the demand for sugar to decline in the past few years,” Azcona said.

He added the SRA welcomes that more stakeholders are concerned about the issue and has decided to support the alarms initially raised by other sugar federations, citing a similar letter sent to Laurel by a group called the Sugar Council and the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry in the Philippines this week.

“It is a positive note that we are all together in supporting an issue that can be detrimental to the sugar industry,” Azcona said.

Source: Philippines News Agency