Confectionery industry seeks government assistance

MANILA, Philippines – The local confectionery industry is in peril and producers are seeking government’s help in keeping their businesses sweet.

The Philippine Confectionery, Biscuit and Snack Association (PCBSA), a group composed of 19 producers of candies, snacks and other confectionery products, has called for the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) intervention to address challenges affecting the competitiveness of the local confectionery industry and which puts it in danger of losing its market share to imported products.

The two major issues identified by the group are the huge disparity in the price of domestic sugar against the price of sugar produced abroad, and its members not allowed by the government to import sugar to meet production requirements despite the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA).

“As the survival of the local confectionary industry is at stake, DTI intervention is urgently needed in resolving the aforementioned problems or issues,” PCBSA president William Lim said in a letter sent to Trade Secretary Adrian Cristobal.

“There is a perception by PCBSA members, right or wrong, that the government is being over-protective of the local producers of sugar notwithstanding the artificially-high and prohibitive price of locally-produced sugar, and this scenario has become a big disadvantage to the local confectionary industry,” he added.

According to Lim, locally produced confectionary items would become competitive only if the cost of production is reduced dramatically.

With the price of domestic sugar at about P2,500 per 50 kilogram bag compared to that of imported sugar at about P1,200, the group said such price difference is seriously affecting the viability of PCBSA members as sugar is the main ingredient of a confectionery item.

Imported products, the group said, are utilizing 50 percent cheaper sugar that is available in the world market.