The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has approved the importation of 150,000 metric tons of refined sugar that is expected to arrive in the country by September 15.&nbsp;
The sugar importation was stipulated under Sugar Order (SO) No. 7 Series of 2022 - 2023 dated and released on Friday, July 6.
SO No. 7 was signed by President and Agriculture Secretary Ferdinand &lsquo;Bongbong&rsquo; Marcos Jr., Agriculture Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban, SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona, and Acting Board Member Miller&rsquo;s Rep. Mitzi Mangwag.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;After taking into consideration [of] all data on record, the comments of the stakeholders, the SRA deems it necessary to adopt additional, responsive, and pre-emptive measures through timely government intervention by the way of importation in order to maintain a balanced supply and demand of sugar for domestic consumption while ensuring stable prices,&rdquo; the SRA stated in the order.
This is the third sugar importation program approved this year.
In February, the agency released <a href="https://www.sra.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2022-2023-SO-6.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SO No. 6 </a>which directed the 440,00 MT of refined sugar.
However, the SRA said that despite the import of 440 MT refined sugar, it has been projected that there will be a shortfall of supply due to the early start and early end of milling.
&ldquo;[A]nd to bridge the gap between the supply and the demand, the SRA finds it imperative to open a second import program to address the demand for CY [Cropping Year] 2022-2023,&rdquo; it added.
The 150 MT of refined sugar will be distributed to eligible institutional users, retailers, wholesalers, traders, manufacturers, and industrial users.
The SRA board shall decide on the volume allocated to an eligible importer.&nbsp;

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SRA OKs importation of 150,000 MT of refined sugar