SRA issues order allocating all sugar production for domestic use

The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) on Tuesday issued an order earmarking all the sugar produced during the crop year 2022-2023 for domestic consumption.

In its Sugar Order No. 1. series of 2022-2023, the SRA said that 100% of raw sugar production for the current crop year shall be classified as “B” or the domestic sugar market.

The crop year 2022-2023 began on September 1, 2022 and will end on August 31, 2023.

The SRA classifies and allocates sugar produced as “A” for US quota, “B” for domestic consumption, “C” for reserve, and “D” for the world market.

The agency estimates the total domestic raw sugar production for the 2022-2023 crop year at 1,876,135.36 metric tons “more or less.”

The Sugar Order No. 1 was signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who as the concurrent Secretary of the Department of Agriculture chairs the SRA Board.

Agriculture Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban, Acting SRA Administrator David John Thaddeus Alba, and SRA acting board members Ma. Mitiz Mangwag (millers’ representative) and Pablo Luis Azcona (planters’ representative) also signed the order.

The SRA earlier said that it would be allocating all the sugar produced during the 2022-2023 crop year for local use.

Sugar is in the spotlight following the controversial issuance of Sugar Order No. 4 (SO4), authorizing the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar which was later on deemed “illegal” as it was signed without the knowledge and expressed approval of Marcos.

Signatories of the controversial order, including Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian, board member Roland Beltran, and Sugar Regulatory Administration administrator Hermenegildo Serafica, have quit from their posts.

The Senate blue ribbon committee has recommended administrative and criminal charges against an Agriculture official and three former Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) officials over the controversial Sugar Order 

Marcos earlier rejected the proposal to import 300,000 metric tons of sugar despite the increasing prices of the basic commodity due to supply constraints.

The DA earlier said there is a shortage of about 300,000 metric tons of sugar as local production was affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette late last year. — BM, GMA News