Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri is urging Negros Occidental congressmen to file a counterpart bill in the Lower House seeking to grant the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) powers to regulate the entry of sugar substitutes and artificial sweeteners into the country.
Zubiri, in an interview on Monday, said he has already filed a bill seeking to grant the SRA regulatory powers over the importation of sugar substitutes and artificial sweeteners that are causing the drop in the country’s sugar millgate prices.
These substitutes are currently not under the mandate of the SRA to regulate, he said.
However, his proposed bill needs a counterpart measure in the Lower House, Zubiri said.
Zubiri also said about 40 percent of sugar users have switched to sugar substitutes and artificial sweeteners.
These chemical substitutes not only hurt the country’s sugar industry but are also bad for one’s health, he said.
Earlier, the SRA said that the artificial sweeteners entering the country each crop year are estimated to be equivalent to 750,000 metric tons of domestic sugar. This is worth P37.5 billion per crop year.
Manuel Lamata, United Federation of Sugarcane Planters (UNIFED) president, earlier said that the unabated and uncontrolled influx of imported sucralose and other sweeteners is alarming and must be addressed.
UNIFED is urgently requesting Congress to legislate regulatory powers for the SRA to oversee and regulate the importation of all sugar substitutes and sweeteners, Lamata said.
Aurelio Gerardo Valderrama Jr., Confederation of Sugar Producers’ Association Inc. (CONFED) president, earlier also urged legislators to empower the SRA to monitor and regulate—for economic as well as health reasons—the entry and consumption of chemical or artificial sweeteners, which are cornering a huge share of the local sweetener market.
This can be done through amendments to the Sugar Industry Development Act (SIDA), which was the subject of last year’s hearing, he said.
The House Committee on Agriculture is set to hold a hearing on the plight of the sugar industry on Wednesday.*
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