BusinessWorld | April 6, 2004
Convincing World Trade Organization (WTO) member-countries that the Philippines needs to retain quantitative restrictions (QRs) on rice may not be easy.
The head of the Philippine negotiating team on QR retention, deputy administrator of the National Food Authority (NFA) Gregorio Tan, said negotiations may take time and may prove to be arduous.
"The [time it will take to conclude negotiations] will depend on the countries that will notify us about their intent to negotiate for concessions to allow the retention of QR," Mr. Tan said.
"These countries will now tell us the concessions they need prior to allowing the retention of the QR. The government will have to evaluate their requests," he added.
The government, he said, is not discounting the possibility that the Philippines may not be able to maintain the QR if other WTO member-countries seek concessions that the country cannot afford.
Agriculture assistant secretary Segfredo R. Serrano earlier said maintaining the QR may not be an easy task especially if other rice-producing countries such as Thailand China seek concessions.
But the Philippine Peasant Institute (PPI), which welcomed the government's move to maintain the QR, said the Philippines can always resort to other strategies to convince WTO member-countries.
"[Our negotiators] can highlight the country's inability to produce enough rice for us to become self-sufficient and the lack of enough of resources to fully develop the rice industry," PPI executive director Romeo Royandoyan said.
The Philippines has written to WTO chairman on agriculture Magdi Farahat about the country's request to maintain rice QRs.
Under WTO rules, countries implementing QRs on specific commodities should inform the world trade body of its intent to continue such policy a year before the QR expires. The Philippines' QR on rice will expire in June 2005.
The Philippines and South Korea are the two remaining countries that have maintained rice QRs.
Local farmer organizations are against the lifting of the QR since it would mean the use of tariffs. They said replacing the QR with tariffs will be disastrous since ordinary duties will not provide enough protection for local farmers.BusinessWorld:
