THE Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is recommending to sell to Kadiwa outlets the 4,000 metric tons of seized smuggled white sugar confiscated at the Port of Batangas last week.
In a statement, SRA administrator David Alba said he would recommend to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to allow the sale of 80,000 bags of white sugar through the Department of Agriculture’s Kadiwa outlets so the public could “enjoy refined sugar at a lower cost.”
The Kadiwa is a marketing program of the DA which allows farmers to directly sell their produce at a lower price and have an effective farm-to-consumer food supply chain.
Latest monitoring of the DA showed retail prices of refined sugar range between P90-P110 per kilo compared to last year’s retail price at P60 per kilo.
Alba thanked the Bureau of Customs (BOC) enforcement unit and Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz for their “vigilance that led to the seizure of the smuggled sugar.”
He also warned traders involved with the attempted smuggling who are in cahoots with smugglers that the “full force of the law will go after you,” adding that he asked all government enforcement agencies to provide his office all the necessary information so they can go after sugar smugglers.
Last January 14, 2023, the BOC intercepted MV Sunward vessel at the Port of Batangas that led to the confiscation of about 4,000 metric tons of refined sugar from Thailand without pertinent importation documents. The seized sugar is valued at more than P260 million.
However, the selling of smuggled goods even to government retail outlets is much easier said than done as there is no provision in the Tariff and Customs Code for the BOC to simply turn them over to any government agency including the agriculture department.