rice that threatens to derail a trade pact at the heart of Southeast's
bid to build an EU-style economic community by 2015.
Thailand, the world's biggest rice exporter, repeated its threat on
Friday that it would delay a Southeast Asian free trade agreement unless
it can get a "fair deal" on tariffs from the Philippines, the world's
biggest buyer of the food staple.
The 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations -- of
which Thailand and the Philippines are members -- are due to ratify an
ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) at a summit that began on Friday
in the Thai seaside town of Hua Hin.
But whether they sign it depends on whether Thailand and the Philippines
reach consensus on rice tariffs, said Thai Commerce Ministry spokesman
Krisda Piampongsant. If ministerial talks fail on Saturday, their
leaders will tackle it this weekend, he said.
"If they can't agree at the ministerial level, we will escalate it to
the leaders' level," Krisda said. "We will try our best to agree on rice
to have the ATIGA signed. But if we can't, it won't be signed.
"Many countries want ATIGA to be signed at this summit as it involves
ASEAN's reputation."
According to the ASEAN free trade pact, Philippine rice import tariffs
should be cut to 20 percent from 40 percent by Jan. 1, 2010. But Manila
insists rice is classified under a "highly sensitive list" allowing
tariffs to stay at 35 percent.
The Philippines is proposing to give Thailand a quota of 50,000 tonnes
of tariff-free rice annually to compensate for not meeting the tariff
target. Thailand has demanded 360,000 tonnes.
"It's a very sensitive issue. We're friends. We need to talk this
through. It's sensitive for Philippines. It's a major importer of rice
affected immensely by the typhoon, so we understand the situation," said
Thai deputy commerce minister Alongkorn Polabutr.
TYPHOON DAMAGE
Recent typhoons badly damaged farmlands and roads in northern
Philippines, killing more than 900 people and forcing the country of 98
million people to import more rice rather than rely on cheaper, domestic
supplies.
"It's the right of the Philippines to decrease (import tariffs) or not,
but we're moving towards an ASEAN economic community. So from the new
year we have to show the same movement to decrease tariffs," Alongkorn said.
Officials in Manila said rice had been taken off the agenda at the
summit to allow Philippine President Gloria Macapagal to focus on other
issues including climate change, disaster relief and human rights.
But Thai officials said it remained on the agenda, noting that it was
one of several issues that are crucial for ratification of the Trade in
Goods Agreement, a key plank of an ambitious bid by ASEAN and its 540
million people to build an EU-style economic community by 2015.
Thailand exported 10 million tonnes of rice in 2008 of which 599,677
tonnes went to the Philippines, according to Thailand's Commerce
Ministry data.
From January to August 2009, Manila bought 116,322 tonnes of rice from
Thailand, mostly premium grade for high-end restaurants. Vietnam has
mainly snatched the market for lower quality rice grades by offering
better prices, traders said.
No comments:
Post a Comment