US allocates additional sugar export quota to RP

The Philippines could ship more sugar to the US, after the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) reallocated to 25 countries this fiscal year’s unused quota on imported raw cane sugar.

Upon consultations with quota-holding countries, the USTR has reallocated a total of 81,496 metric tons (MT) raw value of the minimum amount of the original tariff rate quota (TRQ) for raw cane sugar from countries that said they would be unable to supply previously allocated FY 2010 raw sugar TRQ quantities, Trade Secretary Jesli Lapus said.

A TRQ allows countries to export specified quantities of a product to the US at a relatively low tariff, while subjecting all imports above a pre-determined threshold to a higher duty.

The Philippines’ quota was worth 142,160 MT of sugar for FY 2010. The additional allocation would reach 11,706 MT.

“The reallocation was seen as a prelude to a possible announcement by the US government of an increase in overall quota for sugar due to high prices. This will be a rare opportunity to serve the US market and take advantage of the additional sugar quota,” Lapus said.

The price of sugar in the US stands at about 33 cents per pound, while the global average is about 17 cents a pound. –Ben Arnold O. De Vera, Manila Times