RP nears deal with other countries on quantitative restrictions on rice

The government has come closer to locking up a deal with countries it is negotiating with to allow the country to extend its quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice as talks have moved to non-rice issues.

"We have concluded all talks on rice issues such as raising the minimum access volume and the guaranteed import allocations that some of the countries asked for earlier. So now, we are moving on to the lesser critical non-rice matters," said Gregorio Tan Jr., administrator of the National Food Authority and head of the Philippine negotiating team.

He could not however, disclose details of these so-called non-rice issues.

Tan said that after the non-rice issues are worked out, the government will again reiterate to the World Trade Organization (WTO) its intent to keep the QR on rice. "Hopefully, we could do that shortly because our QR on rice lapsed last June," said Tan.

The Philippine team recently concluded negotiations with the United States and Thailand. Tan said one of the major concessions given by the government was to raise the MAV from the current 238,000 metric tons (MT) to 389,040 MT.

Thailand, the world’s biggest rice producer and exporter previously insisted on reducing tariff on imported rice in exchange for its support to extend the QR on rice imports. The US on the other hand, wanted to include in the negotiations other commodities such as walnuts and grapes among others.

The US also wanted a share of the import allocation of the country’s minimum access volume for corn, which is pegged at more than 200,000 metric tons a year.

In March 2004, the Philippines asked the WTO for an extension of its QR on rice imports. Aside from the US and Thailand, WTO-member countries that negotiated with Manila are Australia, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Argentina, China and Canada. Under a QR system, the government can put a limit on the country’s annual rice import volumes to prevent local rice prices from falling too sharply with the entry of cheaper imported rice.

Local farmer groups said the QR on rice is necessary because the government has failed to provide the safety nets and other support infrastructure such as postharvest facilities, farm-to-market roads and cheap transport systems that will make their produce globally competitive.