Sugar millers and glass manufacturers have called on the Marcos administration to look into the sensitivity of sugar and glass products in the negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Export Marketing Bureau director Bianca Sykimte said at the public consultation of the Philippines-UAE CEPA at the Tariff Commission that part of UAE's interest in the Philippines is the exports of sugar and glass products.
Sykimte said the Philippines is considering offering the UAE zero tariffs on products that are "not locally produced or locally produced but not in sufficient quantity."
She said part of the Philippines' possible offer to the UAE to be given zero tariffs by 2025 is other sugar, including chemical pure lactose, maltose, glucose, and fructose in solid form; sugar syrups not containing added flavoring/coloring; and artificial honey and caramel.
DTI data showed that between 2019 and 2022, the country's annual average import of these products amounted to USD83.13 million.
Philippine Sugar Millers Association executive director Cocoy Barrera requested the Tariff Commission that sugar, raw and refined, be excluded from the PH-UAE CEPA.
"Although (the) UAE has no agricultural sector, it has some of the world's largest sugar refineries. Al Khaleej and Emirates are the two biggest, if I can recall. Their procedure is to import raw and export refined to the world markets. So, they can export sugar refined to the Philippines," Barrera said.
"Although we are not a part of their traditional export market right now, we don't know the dynamics in the future. They are looking for additional markets at the top, considering that they have invested heavily, particularly in the UAE government's sugar refining sector," he added.
Barrera said policies should align since the government is spending heavily through the Sugar Exchange Industry Development Act to develop the local industry and open the market to potential importation.
Moreover, Glass Manufacturers Association of the Philippines, Inc. (GMAPI) associate member Anthony Cabrera also voiced the concern of the local producers that UAE glass imports might flood the Philippine market.
Sykimte said the Philippine negotiating team might also open the local market to other glassware for kitchen, table, toilet, office, indoor decoration, or similar purposes from UAE for zero tariffs under CEPA.
The average Philippine import of these products amounted to $62.5 million between 2019 and 2022, with 7.19%, or $4.5 million, outsourced from the UAE.
Cabrera said the local industry has noticed a surge in the number of glass products sent from the UAE to the Philippine market, "impacting the dynamics of the local manufacturers and encroaching into our market."
GMAPI member Rommel Dino, the glass planning business manager at San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corp, seconded this.
"There's (an) increasing level of imports coming into the Philippines, and we noted that the UAE is one of the countries with the most imports," Dino said.
"This is very specific to the glass containers, which are being used by the beverage, liquor, and pharmaceutical industries in the Philippines. And as my colleague, MCabrera, mentioned, this has affected the local manufacturers, particularly the pharmaceutical industry."
The parties are given until Sept. 4 to submit their position papers to the DTI.
DTI Undersecretary Allan Gepty said the PH-UAE CEPA will hold the third negotiations on Sept. 16 to 18.
Both countries aim to conclude formal talks this year as part of the 50th-anniversary celebration of diplomatic ties between the Philippines and the UAE.
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