Guyana proposal for higher rice import tariff faces stiff resistance
Barbados, Antigua, Jamaica opposing move
Stabroek News
June 13, 2003
Barbados and Antigua have joined Jamaica in opposing a 40% Common External Tariff (CET) on rice being imported into the region saying it would result in higher prices for their citizens.
This is according to an article in Wednesday’s Barbados Advocate which noted that the 40% CET proposal has been forwarded for a decision to the CARICOM Heads of Government summit to be held in Montego Bay from July 2 to July 5.
Upping the rate from 25% to 40% was put on the table by Guyana after its proposal that the region set up a safeguard mechanism to protect the region’s rice industry from cheap and subsidised extra-regional rice imports was shot down at the recent Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) meeting.
The Advocate said that Barbados, Jamaica, and Antigua were opposing the request for the increase by Guyana, Belize and Suriname, saying any increase in the duty would only hike prices for consumers.
Asked to comment on the Advocate report, Caribbean Rice Association President, Beni Sankar told Stabroek News yesterday that if the other Caribbean nations were opposing the 40% CET then they should agree to the safeguard mechanism which would allow the CET to fluctuate between 25% to 40%. This is tied to the price index on the world market and allows the CET to rise when prices are low.
Sankar also told the Advocate that higher costs of production in the Caribbean required higher tariffs to protect growers.
“We can’t compete. The only way is for the duty to be increased to 40 per cent,” he said. In the past, paddy attracted a 40% CET but had been removed from the list of ineligibles. It has since been put back on the list with a 25% CET.
Even with the 25% CET in place, Sankar said that the price of rice was so cheap that importers could pay the CET and still make a profit. However, he said that because there were no standards and monitoring mechanisms in place, rice was being imported without any duties being paid and this he suspected was being done in collusion with persons in the region.
The Advocate said that, “the three rice-growing countries are particularly annoyed with Jamaica for buying as much as 65,000 tons of rice from the US annually.” This was because Jamaica took advantage of paddy being left off the list of ineligibles and signed a binding contract with a major US corporation.
Guyana did sign an agreement in February with Jamaica allowing that country to import duty free some 65,000 metric tonnes of paddy for milling. Other countries buy smaller amounts from Thailand, Vietnam and India whose prices are so low that the 25% duty makes little difference. (Miranda La Rose)
