BACOLOD CITY – Members of the country’s largest sugar group have expressed support for government efforts to address concerns on inflation.
“We, the sugar industry leaders and stakeholders, are prepared to work alongside government agencies to help curb inflation,” said Ferdinand Marañon, national president of the Confederation of Sugar Producers Associations, Inc. (CONFED), on Wednesday.
Marañon made the statement after President Rodrigo Duterte signed Administrative Order (AO) No. 13 last Sept. 21 to remove non-tariff barriers and streamline administrative procedures on the import of agricultural products.
The sugar industry, he said, has been “in constant dialogue for weeks now” with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA). This is to come up with programs and mechanisms that will directly benefit the consumers.
Marañon added that supply and prices of sugar in the country are stable and the start of the milling season will further ensure market stability.
“We are assured that the DA and SRA will perform its mandate to look after the welfare of the industry as well as that of the consuming public and we are confident that the programs we are working on will be of great help to our administration,” the CONFED president added.
AO No. 13 emphasized the “urgent need” to control price spikes of basic agricultural products, particularly rice, chicken, pork and fish.
“There is an urgent need to tame price spikes of basic agricultural commodities by adopting measures that remove non-tariff barriers and streamline administrative procedures to allow importation that will address shortfall on supply and ensure stable prices of agricultural products in the domestic market,” it read.
The non-tariff barriers “unduly add to the costs of importation and limit supply, which in turn, push up the prices of agriculture commodities to the detriment of Filipinos consumers, especially the poor,” the AO added. (Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)
