RP to keep tariff on refined sugar<\/p>\n
MANILA (Reuter): The Philippines will keep a 65 percent tariff
\nimposed on refined sugar from neighboring Southeast Asian
\ncountries as it prepares for another round of fresh importation,
\na senior official said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) chief Wilson Gamboa said
\nManila would remove the 35 percent tariff rebate on refined sugar
\nfrom Southeast Asia starting July 1.<\/p>\n
However, tariff on non-ASEAN countries will be reduced to 60
\npercent from the present 100 percent as part of the country's
\ncommitment to the World Trade Organization.<\/p>\n
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is composed
\nof Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei and
\nthe Philippines.<\/p>\n
\"Starting July 1, tariff on refined sugar from Southeast Asian
\ncountries will be maintained but sugar tariff on other types of
\nsugar will be dropped,\" Gamboa told reporters.<\/p>\n
Tariff on raw sugar would also be cut to 60 percent from the
\npresent 100 percent. This is lower than the earlier 80 percent
\ncommitted by Manila to the WTO.<\/p>\n
The tariff plan has been approved by President Fidel Ramos, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Sugar planters welcomed the withdrawal of tariff rebate on
\nsoutheast Asian refined sugar, particularly from Thailand.<\/p>\n
\"If the tariff is not corrected, sugar from Thailand will be
\ncoming in at an effective 52 percent tariff,\" Manuel Lamata,
\npresident at United Federation of Sugar Planters of the
\nPhilippines, said.<\/p>\n
\"That would be catastrophic to the domestic industry,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Gamboa said the tariff cut would drive the domestic sugar
\nindustry to become more competitive.<\/p>\n
The Philippines suffered a sugar glut last year.
\nFarmers and millers blamed the oversupply to the 35 percent
\nrebate given to Southeast Asian countries.<\/p>\n
Refined sugar imports grew from 12,155 tons in 1993 to 156,304
\ntons in 1996. The bulk of the imports came from Southeast Asian
\ncountries, the Tariff Commission said in a recent report.<\/p>\n
Imports from ASEAN accounted for $44 million of the $60
\nmillion worth of refined sugar imports in the first nine months
\nof 1996 alone, the Department of Trade and Industry reported.<\/p>\n
Gamboa said the government is set to go back to the
\ninternational market after a 10-month ban ending this July 31 due
\nto a projected shortage in domestic harvests for crop year
\n1997\/1998 (Sept-Aug).<\/p>\n
The SRA plans to import between 300,000 and 350,000 tons
\nstarting this September to be used as buffer stocks for a two-
\nmonth period.<\/p>\n
\"I will recommend the importation of sugar to President Ramos
\nat the earliest in September this year as a security reserve,\"
\nGamboa said.<\/p>\n
Domestic demand for sugar is expected to reach 2.1 million
\ntons for the next crop year.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rp-to-keep-tariff-on-refined-sugar-1447893297",
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