By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat Domestic producers of candies, biscuits and snacks are amenable to 25 percent tariff on imported sugar as they look forward to directly importing cheaper sugar, which they said is crucial for them to grow sales by 10-15 percent this year from a flat growth last year. Kissinger S. Sy, president of the Philippine Confectionery Biscuit and Snack Association (PCSBA) said this in light of the pronouncement by Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno that the government is now open to the liberalization of sugar importation, similar to the rice tariffication. “We are amenable to 25 percent import tariff,” Sy said, but Diokno said he was looking 30 to 40 percent tariff. PCSBA members are looking forward to directly importing sugar for their own use. For candy producers, sugar accounts for as much as 80 percent of production, but the snacks and biscuits have lower sugar requirement or at a minimum of 8 percent cost of production. Once the tariffication of sugar pushes through, the group said this should mean lower prices of this critical ingredient. At present, PCSBA members are getting P2,200 per 50-kilogram bag of sugar from the domestic traders as against the landed price of P1,500 per bag only of imported sugar. According to Sy, savings from the cheaper sugar supply should enable the PCSBA members to expand and modernize operations, making them more competitive against imported products. The cheaper cost of this critical production input is expected to improve sales of PCSBA by 10-15 percent from the current flat, he said. PCSBA also prefers to import directly their sugar supply instead of buying from the 12 accredited traders of the Sugar Regulatory Administration saying that sugar from the traders still remain expensive. They are also in talks with some sugar planters, who encouraged them to band together to import their group’s supply and put a strong competition against the traders, who they feel have been shortchanging them. Sy said that PCSBA is also looking at that option to import as a group although they prefer to import individually because it is easier for government to monitor as they can just check on each importer’s factory. For the last couple of years, PCSBA has been petitioning the government to allow its members to directly import sugar to be used exclusively to produce confectionery items. “Hopefully, this clamor will be heeded with the announcement made by Secretary Diokno,” said Sy.