CARICOM 'pussyfooting' on safeguarding rice
-local producers
Stabroek News
May 24, 2003
Guyana's rice producers say CARICOM is "pussyfooting" in its attempts to protect the Caribbean industry from subsided imports and this hesitation threatens the region's food security.
Local producers are now calling on CARICOM to act decisively to save the sector and to meet the challenges of the world rice industry which they say "will be achieved only if CARICOM embraces a regime of active co-operation."
The Rice Producers' Association (RPA), recently held a meeting where stakeholders in the local industry vented their frustration and dissatisfaction with CARICOM "over the prolonged and agonising treatment of issues that are imperative to the survival and sustainability of the CARICOM rice industry."
According to an RPA press release, competition from subsidised rice, especially that which is imported from the USA and, to a lesser extent, from Thailand, results in a 50% loss in market share in the English speaking Caribbean. "This is equivalent to a loss of more than US$22M per year, which is much needed revenue in an industry fighting to provide and promote food security in the region."
"The meeting (indicated) that the regional rice industry faces numerous challenges at this point in time and is further compounded by the recent proposal by the European Union Commission to undertake a Mid Term Review (MTR) of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)."
The stakeholders held the view that if the proposed changes at the MTR of the CAP were implemented, they would lose a significant share of the European Union (EU) market available to them both in terms of size and price. They asserted that this would have far-reaching negative effects on the region which makes it necessary for CARICOM to act decisively to save the regional rice industry.
The non-implementation of a number of initiatives, which were put forward to the CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) and which date back some three years, was criticised.
One of the examples cited was the approval of the regional rice standard as a mandatory standard to be implemented between the end of April and the end of October 2002. This has, however, not been adopted by any member state to date. Member States were also criticised for their failings in their obligations to provide the CARICOM Secretariat with the requisite information to facilitate the regional monitoring mechanism for rice, which was designed to gather information on rice production and trade in the region. This was implemented since the 13th COTED held in May 2002.
The RPA statement also noted that a rice regime was proposed, in the form of a safeguard mechanism aimed at providing some level of support to the regional industry as a result of competition from heavily subsidised extra-regional sources.
"After accepting the principle that there is need for such a mechanism to support the industry, delaying tactics are used to stall the implementation mechanism..." the RPA observed, noting that it had taken two years to state that the mechanism was World Trade Organisation (WTO) compatible.
Meanwhile, it was noted that currently, the Common External Tariff (CET) on rice is set at 25% while the CET on all other agricultural commodities, including sugar, is set at 40%.
"The time for us to act is now, especially since we are involved with negotiations at the level of the WTO, FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) and ACP/EU, otherwise all we would be doing is importing rather than producing, a policy that is fraught with grave consequences for our regional Food Security," the statement said.
Rice production in Guyana contributes approximately 13% of the country's GDP and the industry benefits an estimated 20% of the nation's entire population both directly and indirectly, the RPA noted.
