SRA thanks sugar stakeholders for ‘coming together’

The sugar industry is getting a fresh start in 2025 after sugar stakeholders gathered together to lend support to the Department of Agriculture and the Sugar Regulatory Administration.

“The last time industry stakeholders were all represented in a consultative assembly was exactly a year ago and this recent gathering that shows we are united bodes well for our sugar industry,” SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona said.

Azcona met with representatives from the planters group, millers and refiners including traders, importers and exporters to discuss Sugar Order No. 2 which encourages voluntary purchase of local sugar for reclassification to reserve sugar to avail of allocation for future importation program.

This was received well by industry stakeholders, particularly the farmers group as this is expected to “stabilize prices at a level reasonably profitable to our farmers as well as to our consumers,” Azcona said.

Moreover, the sugar order provides an opportunity to anyone who has a domestic sugar trading license, thus allowing even individual farmers, farmers groups, associations and cooperatives to participate in the program, he added.

This program is similar to what we implemented last year which was well received as this “removes any subjectivity to the import allocation process because allocation will be performance-based.”

As such, “those who support and purchase more from our local farmers will be given a bigger allocation in our future import programs,” Azcona explained.

This coming together, shows we are off to a good start this year and both the DA and the SRA hope that this enthusiasm from our industry stakeholders will continue, he added.

Present during the assembly last Tuesday at the SRA office in Bacolod were representatives from the Philippine Sugar Millers Association, the Philippine Association of Sugar Refiners Inc., and the big sugar federations.* (PR)