The Confederation of Sugar Producers Association (Confed) has denounced rampant smuggling of cheap Thai sugar though seven ports in Luzon and Mindanao.

Confed said the domestic sugar industry runs the risk of going bankrupt due to the operations of smuggling syndicates that have not been stopped by the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and the Department of Agriculture (DA).

“The pernicious effects would be unimaginable,” Confed national president Federico Locsin III warned.

Locsin and other Confed officials noted that sugar farmers are already feeling the effects of the entry of smuggled sugar into the country with prices of domestic sugar steadily dropping to be at par with production cost.

While the milling season is still at its peak, smuggled refined sugar have reportedly been unloaded in various parts of the country, particularly in Metro Manila, Batangas, La Union, Tarlac, Tuguegarao, Davao and General Santos City.

Locsin and other Confed officials said these stocks of smuggled refined Thai sugar are still in their original packaging sacks.

Last January, they added, Malaysian authorities reportedly intercepted a vessel bound for the Philippines loaded with large quantity of sugar.