More power sought for industry regulator to curb sugar smuggling

A lawmaker is pushing for the immediate passage of a measure giving more power to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) in a bid to curb the rampant sugar smuggling in the Philippines.

Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer of Negros Occidental said House Bill 6826 will strengthen the government’s drive against sugar smuggling by authorizing the SRA to run after criminal syndicates engaged in the illicit activity that affects the local sugar industry and tax collection efforts.

“It is high time to stop the reselling of seized smuggled sugar in the domestic market that greatly affects our local sugar farmers,” said Ferrer, principal author of the bill.

The lawmaker said the uncontrolled entry into the country of smuggled imported sugar “decreases customs tax collection, destabilizes domestic sugar prices, and endangers the domestic sugar industry [and the livelihood of] the many sugar farmers depending on the viability of sugarcane farming.”

The bill empowers and authorizes the SRA to prevent, suppress, confiscate and apprehend the smuggling of sugar and its derivatives through the execution of searches, warrants of seizures and enforcing arrests. The measure also mandates that all confiscated smuggled sugar be placed under the custody of the SRA within ten days upon seizure.

It recommends that within 40 days of seizure, the smuggled sugar be dumped into the sea, provided that the dumping is cleared with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to ensure that it does not bring any significant damage to the ecosystem.

The bill, which amends Executive Order 18, also creates a sugar anti-smuggling task force unit. –Frank Lloyd Tiongson, Manila Times