The United States has maintained the Philippine sugar allocation of 142,160 metric tons of gross value (MTRV) under Washington’s import program for fiscal year (FY) 2022, according to the U.S. Trade Representative ( USTR).

The USTR recently announced tariff rate quota (TRQ) allocations on raw cane sugar, refined and specialty sugar, and imported sugar-containing products for fiscal year 2022, which begins October 1.

Under the TRQ system, countries like the Philippines can export specified quantities of products to the United States at a relatively low tariff.

“On September 13, 2021, the administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (administrator) announced the establishment of the quota amount of raw cane sugar for fiscal year 2022,” the USTR said in a recent press release.

“The amount in the quota for the raw cane sugar tariff rate quota for fiscal year 2022 is 1,117,195 gross metric tonnes (MTRV), which is the minimum amount to which the United States has committed under of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement ”.

The Philippines maintained its historic import allocation for sugar to the United States, making it the third largest volume of the 40 countries allowed to export the sweetener under the TRQ regime. This is the fifth consecutive year that the United States

“These allocations are based on historical shipments from countries to the United States,” the USTR said.

“Raw cane sugar, refined and specialty sugar, and products containing sugar for fiscal year 2022 TRQs may enter the United States as of October 1, 2021.”

The latest data available from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) showed that the Philippines exported 104,012 MT of commercial weight (MTCW) of raw sugar to the United States out of its allocation of 138,154 MTCW (142,160 MTRV) for the ‘fiscal year 2021.

For the 2021-2022 crop year which began on September 1, the SRA board of directors allocated all of the country’s sugar production to the domestic market in order to ensure a sufficient supply of sweetener as bad weather has affected the country. affected the sugar cane.

The SRA board of directors made the decision following the announcement from the state meteorological office that the re-emergence of La Niña will coincide with the harvest and peak milling season in the main production areas.

The SRA’s initial estimate before milling for raw sugar production in the year 2021-2022 is 2.099 million metric tons (MMT), almost two percent lower than the 2.138 MMTs recorded during the previous year.

Last month, the Philippine Sugar Millers Association said the SRA must explain its decision not to allocate sugar to the US market in order to maintain the country’s sugar quota.

Image courtesy of Andrey Rudakov / Bloomberg