SUGAR Board Members Emilio Yulo and Roland Beltran issued Thursday, January 9, a disclaimer regarding the supposed agreement between Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez and Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) chief Hermenegildo Serafica as published in news report stating that "in principle," domestic food processors and other end-users should be allowed to import sugar if the price of locally produced sugar cannot match the P1,900 per bag of imported sugar.
Yulo and Beltran, representing the producers and millers, respectively, said arriving at a benchmark price without consultation with stakeholders is disastrous.
The two officials said Serafica must not attribute such agreement to the SRA, as they have not been consulted about the matter, much less "our constituency that has been questioning the recent statements and or agreements made by Secretary Lopez in that meeting with Administrator Serafica and domestic food processors."
"We would also like to caution the administrator in making commitments or decisions without consultation as any position he takes can be construed as a policy statement which can be disastrous to the industry if not properly consulted," they said in a statement.
Yulo and Beltran added that "we had to parry questions and accusations from our constituents as a result of the recent pronouncements of Sec. Lopez, attributing the same to the administrator."
"We reiterate our position at this point that importation is not the solution for alleged high domestic prices of sugar," the board members said.
There are also mechanisms in place that allow food processors exporters to import their requirements and anything beyond this must be properly consulted first with all industry stakeholders, they added.