Philippines: Sugar MAV Importation and the Philippine WTO Obligation

On December 22, 2022, the Department of Agriculture (DA) issued Memorandum Order 77 (MO 77) for the department to take action to stabilize sugar prices and evaluate the importation of 65,050 metric tons (MT) of refined sugar through the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) mechanism. Under the WTO, the Philippines agreed on a 50 percent tariff quota for MAV and 65 percent in excess of MAV. If the Philippines were to honor its commitments under the WTO and ASEAN, retail sugar prices would decline by an equilibrium of $128/MT (WTO) or $480/MT (ASEAN).