DoF eyes sugar tarifficationhome/Business/Top Business/DoF eyes sugar tarifficationTHE Department of Finance (DoF) is pushing for tariffs on imported sugar after its latest economic bulletin showed that high prices of the commodity are weighing down consumers and downstream industries. For example, the DoF said, Thailand and Malaysia embarked on industrialization by modernizing agriculture and boosting their food processing sector. Using the ratio of wholesale prices as the effective tariff for the industry, the Finance department said sugar had an EPR of 247.8 percent because of the lower tariff rate on its inputs. “This means that consumers and downstream industries have been paying more than twice [or thrice using FAO prices] the global price for the commodity,” the DoF pointed out. “The restricted level of imports directly affects the level of domestic prices.”The Finance department also said downstream industries, such as food manufactures and beverage industries, were burdened by the high cost of sugar, as they purchased 40.9 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively, of total sugar output.

Source: Manila Times September 27, 2019 16:18 UTC