CA allows SRA to defend US quota allocation order

MANILA -- The Court of Appeals (CA) has allowed the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to defend its order requiring sugar milling companies to allocate 5 percent of their production for export to the United States.

In a 10-page decision by Associate Justice Ramon Garcia, the CA’s Eight Division granted the petition filed by SRA seek

ing the reversal of the order issued by the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 133 which allowed Central Azucarera de Bais and Central Azucarera de San Antonio, Inc., to present evidence on the petition they filed seeking to declare as invalid SRA Sugar Order No. 1 issued in August last year.

The firms claimed the measure would result in higher prices of sugar locally.

Under the terms of the order, 5 percent of annual sugar production would go to the US market while 95 percent would go to the domestic market.

The two sugar milling companies filed a petition questioning the issuance of the order. They claimed that they stand to suffer a direct injury with the implementation of the order since their proprietary rights as producers to gain the full price of “D” class sugar would be diminished since “A” class sugar is significantly cheaper.