“Regardless of the tariff line these imported artificial sweeteners and ‘other sugars’ belong to, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) should act on them, as long as these sugar substitutes displace substantially the demand for local sugar.”
That was the response of the Sugar Council, in a press release Monday, Dec. 23, to the statement by SRA Administrator Pablo Azcona that their group is misinformed.
The Sugar Council earlier questioned why SRA is lowering by a considerable amount the proposed P10 import clearance fee per 50-kilo bag of raw sugar equivalent of alternative sweeteners under Tariff Line 1702, such as glucose, fructose, artificial honey, palm sugar, maltose and others.
In the same statement, the group also mentioned that, aside from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), the three most popular artificial sweeteners used in beverage manufacturing are Sucralose, Aspartame and Acesulfame Potassium, and that Philippine Statistics Office records reveal the combined importation of these three artificial sweeteners has risen from 950,989 kgs in 2022 to 1,100,783 kgs in 2023.
Azcona, in response, said the Sugar Council is misinformed. He emphasized that is only under his tenure that these imported sugar substitutes will be imposed a clearance fee for the first time, chiding other past SRA Administrators for not acting on the matter.
“In 2017, all planters federations and labor organizations fought against HFCS, resulting to the imposition of P12 per liter excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages using HFCS and only P6 per liter for those using cane sugar,” the Sugar Council said.
“Other sugar substitutes were not mentioned in the battle against HFCS seven years ago, most probably because they were imported in volumes which did not substantially displace demand for local sugar at that time. If these sugar substitutes posed as much threat as HFCS in 2017, these sugar substitutes would have been included in the fight against HFCS,” the group explained.
“Chiding past SRA Administrators for failing to act on a non-existent problem during their tenure is ridiculous. Claiming credit for presently performing one’s mandated duty is childish,” the Sugar Council said.*