The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced an increase in the allocation for the Philippines and select countries in the World Trade Organization (WTO) sugar tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for fiscal year 2024 amounting to 25,300 metric tons (MT) of raw cane sugar.
The Philippines was among the 20 countries that qualified for the increased allocation of raw cane sugar to enter the US at lower duty rate from Oct. 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 2024.
The Philippines has the second highest allocation next to Brazil’s 27,174 MT.
TRQs allow countries to export specified quantities of a product to the US at a relatively low tariff, but subject all imports of the product above a pre-determined threshold to a higher tariff.
On March 7, 2024, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced an additional in-quota quantity of the TRQ for raw cane sugar eligible to enter the US in FY 2024, in the amount of 125,000 metric tons raw value (MTRV).
The said quantity is in addition to the minimum amount to which the US is committed under the WTO Agreement which is at 1,117,195 MTRV.
USTR is allocating the additional quantity of 125,000 MTRV to the remaining 18 countries – Australia with 15,555 MT; Belize, 2,061; Bolivia, 1,499; Colombia, 4,498; Costa Rica, 2,811; Ecuador, 2,061; El Salvador, 4,873; Eswatini,, 29,998; Philippines, 1,687; Guatemala, 8,996; Guyana 2,249; Honduras, 1,874; Jamaica, 2,061; Mozambique, 2,437; Peru, 7,684; South Africa, 4,310; Thailand, 2,624; and, Zimbabwe with 2,249 MT.
The allocation of increased quantities of the raw cane sugar WTO TRQ to countries that are net importers of sugar are conditioned on receipt of the appropriate verifications of origin.
Certificates of quota eligibility must accompany imports from any country for which an allocation has been provided, the USTR said.
The Philippine Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is yet to verify if the Philippines will reconsider to participate in the program.
According to the US Agricultural Food Service in the Philippines, the SRA issued Sugar Order No. 1 for marketing year 2023-2024 allocating 100 percent of the estimated 1.85 million MT production to the domestic market.
The estimated production could drop 10 to 15 percent depending on the severity of the ongoing El Niño phenomenon.