DA extends sugar import ban to December 2026

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December 22, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Believing local production of sugar has improved, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is maintaining its ban on importing sugar until December 2026.

“The ban on sugar importation will remain in place until December next year – not September, when the current crop year ends – extending protection for local producers amid improving supply conditions,” the DA announced in a statement yesterday.

With the goals of “prioritizing locally produced sugar and stabilizing the market,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. declared “a longer import moratorium than initially suggested is necessary... based on the current outlook for sugar production and demand.”

The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), of which Tiu Laurel sits as chairman of the agency’s policy-making body Sugar Board, would “step up monitoring of refinery operations to maintain an accurate picture of standard and premium-grade refined sugar inventories,” aimed at “preventing supply distortions and speculative pricing,” according to the DA.

In October 2025, Tiu Laurel and SRA Administrator Pablo Luis Azcona declared “there is, and never was, any talk of an importation program for crop year 2025-2026 until we finish significant milling, have firm production figures and ensure any imports would only be classified as C or reserve sugar.”

According to earlier reports, domestic sugar production reached 2.015 million metric tons as of June 2025, an uptick from the 1.922 million metric tons in the previous crop year.

Also, land used to plant sugarcane enlarged from 380,000 hectares in 2022 to 409,000 hectares this year.

Meanwhile, both the DA and the SRA declared it was “finalizing a long-delayed regulatory framework governing molasses imports, a move expected to further shield domestic producers.”

“Under the proposed rules, molasses users will first be required to purchase and withdraw locally produced molasses. Only after those obligations are met – and based on a predetermined ratio – will imports be permitted, subject to SRA approval,” the agencies explained.