Sugar Order No. 6 granting the importation of 440,000 metric tons of sugar was signed Monday, February 13, Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Board Member Pablo Luis “Paul” Azcona said Tuesday.
The order has been sent to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for review prior to release, he said.
The order was signed by members of the SRA Board and Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo F. Panganiban as representative of the president, who is concurrent agriculture secretary, said Azcona, who represents the sugar planters.
Other members of the board are SRA Administrator David John Thaddeus Alba and Ma. Mitzi Mangwag as representative of the sugar millers.
All of the 440,000 MT will be coming into the country as reserve sugar, Azcona said.
There is a portion that will come in immediately and the rest will arrive in different tranches, he said.
The 240,000 MT of sugar will serve as the country’s buffer stock and the rest will be released into the domestic market, but not immediately, Azcona said.
The release of the 200,000 MT will depend on the inventory situation and the price of retail, he said.
“The goal is to drive down the retail price without affecting the farmers too much,” he said.*