MikeLigalig.com

By Lilybeth G. Ison

MANILA, Jan. 27 (PNA) -- The Philippine government has stepped up monitoring of retail prices of sugar in Metro Manila and elsewhere as it warned it will not hesitate to padlock establishments or stores -- and file appropriate charges against their owners -- caught selling this commodity beyond the newly pegged suggested retail price (SRP) of P52 per kilo.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap on Wednesday said both the DA and and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will keep tabs on price movements across the supply chain from the sugar mills to retail outlets "so the government can spot abnormal price adjustments."

"We will swoop down on establishments selling sugar for P55 to P60 a kilo and ask their owners or managers to explain their price levels," said Yap.

"If they cannot give a valid explanation for selling sugar beyond the newly set SRP of P52 a kilo, then we can close down their outlets and file charges against them for violating the Price Act," he added.

Initial field reports reaching the DA and DTI showed that supermarkets have generally been selling refined sugar between P49 and P52.

Yap said the DA and DTI Monitoring teams will be deployed to wet markets amid reports that sugar is being sold in some of these areas at beyond P52 per kilo.

He said the DA started deploying monitoring teams to check on retail prices of sugar to complement the array of consumer-friendly steps it has taken to immediately beef up the domestic buffer stocks of sugar in the face of a global supply and price crunch.

Earlier, Yap ordered the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) and the National Food Authority (NFA) to make available at once 150,000 kilos of sugar to poor consumers via the NFA’s "Tindahan Natin" outlets in Metro Manila.

The DA chief said he also talked with local sugar traders to fast track the planned importation of some 60,000 metric tons (MT) to 150,000 MT of sugar into the country as a way to stabilize the supply of the commodity amid the recent price spike in the domestic market.

Accredited sugar importers and traders were originally set to bring in their imports by May yet, but ensuing retail price spiral have prompted DA and DTI to let them ship such deliveries months ahead of schedule and via the NFA’s tax expenditure subsidy (TES) of zero tariff.

Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=24975.0