Farmers up in arms over plans to import rice to South Korean tables

Posted on : 2015-05-13 17:55 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Groups representing farmers say decision to go ahead with imports may be motivated by US pressure
 during a protest gathering held by members of the Korea Peasants League and various civic groups
during a protest gathering held by members of the Korea Peasants League and various civic groups

Farmers are protesting South Korean government plans to import table rice as duties disappear this year with a new tarification framework.

The Korean Peasants’ League (KPL) and National Rice Producers’ Association held a press conference on May 12 in front of the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation (aT) in Bitgaram Innovation City in Naju, South Jeolla Province, to demand a halt on imports of table rice.

“If table rice that costs just half the price of domestic product takes over at the food service places that are our major consumers, market prices will fall and farmers will have fewer sales opportunities,” they warned.

“That is why farmers have been strenuously demanding that table rice imports not be allowed [unlike rice for processing], and it’s also why the government removed table rice import duty provisions from the concession schedule last year,” they added.

“The National Assembly also urged a removal of table rice import budget items and a halt to imports when it passed the budget last November.”

The farmers went on to say a halt to table rice imports would not violate World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations because the rice tarification process has already begun.

“We also have to ask if the government is in its right mind when it insists on importing table rice even when we have so much of it after the bumper crop last year,” they added.

The farmers’ take on Seoul’s decision to go ahead with the measures in spite of the WTO regulations and current rice supply conditions is that it is motivated by concerns about Washington’s reaction ahead of WTO rice negotiations and South Korea’s possible membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

“They bowed to the anticipated US pressure out of fears of retaliation,” said KPL policy committee chairman Park Hyeong-dae.

“They should try to minimize the market effects by halting the table rice imports and do 100% of their imports for processing rice, which they can provide as aid to Nepal or North Korea or use for animal feed,” Park advised.

KPL chairman Kim Yeong-ho, 59, from Yesan in South Chungcheong Province, launched a ten-day sit-in demonstration in front of the aT headquarters the same day to demand a halt to the table rice imports. The KFL also plans to stage a nationwide farmers’ rally at the same location on May 21, the date when bidding takes place.

On May 8, the South Korean government announced plans to import 10,000 tons of table rice through aT. The corporation held a bidding briefing for importers on May 12. Successful bidders are scheduled to import their allotted quantities by October.

The government previously postponed rice tarification between 2005 and 2014, opting instead to import 409,000 tons of rice each year through minimum market access (MMA). 70%, or 280,000 tons, consisted of processing rice, while the remaining 30% (130,000 tons) was table rice.

The majority of table rice imports come from the US, amounting to 50,000 tons per year. Costing half the price of domestic product with a tariff of only around 5%, the table rice found wide distribution in the market as an inexpensive option. Critics have blamed it for a long-term slump in rice prices and havoc in the market due to illicit blending with other rice.

 

By Ahn Gwan-ok, Gwangju correspondent

 

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