US opposes Philippines’ bid vs rice imports
Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
The Philippines’ petition for the World Trade Organization (WTO) to stop the influx of imported rice is facing opposition from the United States government, which recently protested the country’s strict regulations on meat handling, according to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.
Alcala said the US government has decided to block the Philippine bid to limit the entry of foreign rice into the domestic market—a regulation that protects Filipino farmers from competing with cheap and subsidized foreign rice—to protest the Department of Agriculture’s Administrative Order No. 22 issued last year.
The quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice under the WTO allows the Philippines to limit the volume of rice that can be imported by the government every year, preventing a possible deluge of rice imports.
“They will block us on the QR because of our stance on AO 22,” Alcala said.
The government has pushed for a three-year extension of the QR, noting that Filipino farmers need protection and encouragement as the country wants to be rice-sufficient by 2013. The Philippines aims to be a rice exporter in the future.
Last month, the US Department of Agriculture has asked the DA to suspend the AO 22, saying it has affected the trade of meat and poultry to the Philippines.
US meat traders, through the US government, said the new rule has slowed down the issuance of permits for imported meat and poultry.
According to the USDA, US meat and poultry exports to the Philippines exceeded $100 million in 2010, up 40 and 50 percent.
The DA issued AO 22 in 2010, which took effect in December 2011, to raise safety standards on imported meat and poultry, the agency said. The order mandates traders to establish cold chain systems to ensure the safety of the meat until it reaches the consumers in the groceries and in the public wet markets.
Temperature in the cold chain facilities should not be higher than 4 degrees Celsius, the order said. It also compels traders to be accredited by the National Meat Inspection Service.
