ed Decision on rice market

Korea stands at a crossroads over the opening of its rice market after the World Trade Organization (WTO) rejected the Philippines’ latest request to waive its rice market liberalization last week.

The Southeast Asian country, the only other WTO member that has quota systems for rice imports along with Korea, offered to raise its import quota by 130 percent to 800,000 tons and lower import tariffs on rice to 35 percent from the current 40 percent. But the ostensibly attractive proposal went unappreciated as WTO member states demanded more concessions from the Philippines.

This has strong implications for Seoul, which has to submit its own rice-market liberalization plan to the global trade group by the end of September. As things stand now, it’s doubtful if our trade negotiators can convince WTO members of the inevitability to continue to restrict rice imports.

Even in case their arguments win sympathy, Korea certainly will have to pay a high price. At a time when Korea has already been troubled by a flood of foreign rice imported under the WTO minimum market access formula, it appears that Korea has no choice but to swell its rice imports and liberalize other agricultural markets, which would do more harm than good to our farmers.

Korea’s mandatory rice imports jumped from 51,000 tons in 1995 to 409,000 tons this year. Fears of the rice supply glut have already become more intense as rice consumption has been on a constant decline ― 106 kg per capita in 1995 to 68 kg in 2013. It’s estimated that about 3 trillion won has been spent on importing rice over the past two decades.

Against this backdrop, it would be more viable and realistic to open our rice market by imposing tariffs. Japan and Taiwan set good precedents by successfully cushioning the shock from their market opening through their tariff systems. The two Asian countries liberalized their rice markets in 1999 and 2003, respectively, by imposing high tariffs, and their rice imports have hardly increased.

Experts propose tariffs of 300-500 percent, which they claim would bring prices for imported rice in line with the local grain, saying such a level would be acceptable under WTO rules.

What’s needed is how the government and the political circles persuade farmers who vehemently protest the rice-market opening, alleging that the foundation of our agriculture would be destroyed.

This is a politically sensitive time in the run-up to the June 4 local elections, but it’s no use delaying the decision. The government needs to come up with comprehensive measures to enhance the competitiveness of our farming industry while putting the issue to public debate as soon as possible.