Sugar Regulatory Administration seeks P60-million funding for quedan scheme

MANILA, Philippines - The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) is seeking a P60 million funding assistance from the Japanese government for the implementation of an electronic sugar quedan inventory and bar-coding system.

SRA head Regina Bautista-Martin told reporters yesterday that she plans to modernize the sugar quedan system to allow for a more efficient processing of sugar quedans and a more accurate tracking of sugar stocks.

A quedan is a Spanish term that literally means warehouse receipt. A quedan shows ownership of a specified amount of sugar in a warehouse or sugar central. A negotiable instrument, it is a primary trading document in the sugar industry.

Installing bar-codes on all sugar bags and sacks, Martin said, would make it easier to track stocks and would also help weed out smuggled stocks.

Former SRA head Bernardo Trebol, in his farewell remarks at the turnover ceremonies at the SRA in Quezon City, had warned Martin that sugar smuggling would be her “biggest headache”.

According to Trebol, “you cannot do your job well if there is smuggling,” explaining that “it is hard to regulate if there is another pipeline.”

Trebol said the SRA is hampered in its effort to crack down on sugar smuggling because the sugar agency does not have police powers to apprehend or even file cases against alleged smugglers.

The SRA has to rely on the Bureau of Customs to act on sugar smuggling.