Among the initiatives was a meeting in June with high level officials of the European Commission (EC) and Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation, Clement Rohee and his Suriname counterpart, Jacques Tjon Tjin Joe, who recently passed away.

The two voiced issues pertaining to the size of funding to be made available for the rice industry, the need for grants rather than loans, and the domestic importance of the sector.

In addition, they presented a joint statement on the issue at the 75th Session of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Council of Ministers meeting in the Dominican Republic in June.

At that forum, a resolution was adopted calling on the EC to ensure sufficient resources are available in consonance with the Cotonou Joint Declaration on Rice.

From May to July last year, a diagnostic study of the CARIFORUM rice industry was undertaken to define the contents of a specific sector programme.

A feasibility study was also done to determine areas where help is needed to make the industry in Guyana more competitive, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation said in a release.

Consequently, a National Plan of Action for the rice industries of Guyana and Suriname is being finalised and along with a financial proposal, will be submitted this November to the European Development Fund Committee, it said.

Based on cost estimations outlined, it is expected that the EU will determine the quantum of funds to be provided to Guyana and Suriname and the region as a whole, the release added.

Meanwhile, a Regional Safeguard Mechanism for Rice was proposed by Guyana at the Council on Trade and Economic Development (COTED), aimed at protecting the CARICOM rice industry from the volatility of world rice prices.

It suggests that the Common External Tariff (CET) for rice imports from outside the region be varied in response to changes in world market prices.

According to the release, the current CET on rice is 25%. However, if the Regional Safeguard were to be implemented, when the world market prices are low, it would be increased at a specified rate (no more than 40%).

This would allow regional producers of rice to be competitive. Conversely, when world rice market prices are high, the CET on extra-regional rice imports would be reduced to a minimum of 20%.