The South Korean government said Thursday it will set the country's tariff rate on rice imports at 513 percent, which it said will be more than enough to protect the country's rice industry by making imports more expensive than locally produced grain.
The move comes as the country is set to liberalize its rice market from next year.
The proposed tariff rate will be notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said.
The rate, once confirmed by the WTO, will go into effect on Jan. 1, although the WTO process could take months to verify whether South Korea's proposed rate is appropriate, according to the ministry.
"The tariff rate must undergo a verification process by WTO member countries, and thus the government will thoroughly prepare for the WTO verification based on its logic and data," it said.
South Korea has been allowed to delay its rice market opening under a 1993 agreement with the WTO in exchange for gradually increasing its mandatory import quota, which reached 408,700 tons this year.
The agreement with the WTO requires South Korea to continue importing the mandatory quota even after next year's market opening, at a preferential 5 percent tariff rate.
The 513 percent tariff for non-mandatory import will effectively keep the foreign rice more expensive than locally produced grain, the ministry said.
Japan, for instance, opened its rice market through tariffication in 1999, but it only imported an average 350 tons of rice under high tariffs from 2000 to 2013, according to the ministry.
Taiwan, which also liberalized its rice market in 2003, imports only about 500 tons of rice per year, in addition to 144,720 tons in mandatory import quota.
In addition to the high tariff rate, the government announced a set of measures aimed at protecting the country's rice market, including banning retailers from mixing domestic and imported rice.
All rice imports will be subject to a review to verify their reported price, a move aimed at exposing false prices that would lower their market price, the ministry said.
The government also reaffirmed its pledge to exclude rice from market liberalization under any future trade agreements.
"As it is also important to maintain the country's rice import tariff rate, the government plans to continue excluding rice from the list of products to be liberalized under any free trade agreements the country seeks to take part in the future," it said. (Yonhap)