SUGAR farmers and industry workers led by the Sugar Council and the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines (NACUSIP) called on the government to act on the unregulated entry and use of artificial sweeteners in the country.
Without specifying any course of action they want government to take, the groups said in a statement yesterday sugar substitutes displace a substantial volume of sugar in the domestic market.
Sugar Council and NACUSIP said they have raised this concern in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. who also serves as the concurrent chairman of the Sugar Board of the Sugar Regulatory Administration.
The groups said the three most popular artificial sweeteners used in beverage manufacturing are sucralose, aspartame and acesulfame potassium.
“If we know how much locally produced sugar is displaced by artificial sweeteners, can we consider the latter as replacement to importing refined sugar? Because as it is today, with refined sugar imports and artificial sweetener imports, both of which are cheaper to get to market, our local sugar faces a double whammy,” the groups said in their letter to Tiu Laurel.
Sugar Council and NACUSIP also said the three artificial sweeteners enjoy zero tariff under the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement which further compromises the ability of locally produced sugar to compete in the market, especially in the face of rising production costs.
On the labor front, the groups warned that displacement of locally produced sugar by artificial sweeteners could result to widespread displacement of sugarcane farm workers, sugar mill workers and biofuel workers in the sugarcane industry, as well as degrade the livelihood of families of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs).
The groups also expressed concern on the sustainability of scholarships and other socio-economic benefits under the Social Amelioration Program funded by liens from locally produced sugar which is not charged from imported sweeteners.
The Sugar Council represents the Confederation of Sugar Producers’ Associations Inc., the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters and the Panay Federation of Sugarcane Farmers.
Meanwhile, NACUSIP is the largest aggrupation of labor unions and ARBs in the country.
