Philippines weighing options on protecting rice market under WTO

THE government is carefully weighing its options on protecting the Philippines’ rice market, as it could entail opening up the country’s market for other farm goods traded under the World Trade Organization (WTO). An official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) also disclosed that it would be up to the next administration to determine whether it would negotiate for the retention of the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice. “[The DA] will just make a recommendation but it will be up to the next administration whether it will go for the retention of the QR,” said the DA official who is privy on trade matters. So far, the official said the DA has not yet come up with a final recommendation regarding the possible extension of the QR on rice and that the matter is under “careful study.” The DA official also noted that another area of concern is the current Doha round of negotiations at the WTO. “We have to consider the Doha round of negotiations [because] of its impact on sequencing. We [need] to wait for the final outcome and see whether there will be cuts in the tariffs on rice,” the official said. While rice farmers were able to gain a temporary reprieve from the threat of the removal of the QR in 2004, the official noted that a number of concessions were given to member-countries of the WTO who signified their intention to negotiate the retention of the QR on rice. “[The Philippines] did not just allow the entry of rice from other trading partners; we also had to give them access to our wine market and milk market,” the official said. The QR has allowed the Philippines to limit the volume of rice that can be imported by the government every year, preventing a possible influx of cheap rice imports. In exchange for extending the QR until 2012, the Philippines agreed to increase its minimum access volume (MAV) for rice to 350,000 metric tons (MT) as a concession. The Philippines also reduced tariffs on rice to 40 percent, from 50 percent in 2007. MAV refers to the minimum volume of farm produce, which it will allow to enter into the Philippines at reduced tariffs. The Philippines filed its intention to extend the QR on rice in March 2004 as it was set to expire in June 2005. Extensive negotiations for it followed, with Manila holding discussions with nine countries that signified their intention to negotiate the request. Manila had to conduct bilateral negotiations with nine WTO members, namely, the United States, China, India, Argentina, Pakistan, Egypt, Canada, Australia and Thailand. The Philippines obtained formal approval from the WTO to extend the QR in December 2006. The government pushed for the extension of the QR, citing the need to prepare Filipino farmers for international trade and to achieve rice self-sufficiency. The Philippines had originally targeted to achieve rice self-sufficiency by 2010. The government was forced to move its target to 2013 due to the lack of funding, as well as the challenges posed by climate change.