RP-Thai rice deal to be signed this month

The draft agreement between the Philippines and Thailand that will allow the former to delay tariff cut commitments on rice has passed the Agriculture department’s final check and will likely be signed by the end of the month, a Trade official said on Wednesday. Last month, both sides already settled on a rice quota the Philippines will import from Thailand to make up for the delayed tariff cut. Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap approved the language of the contract on Tuesday and officials just needed to double check it, Trade Assistant Secretary Ramon Vicente T. Kabigting told reporters on the sidelines of a free trade deal briefing. The development is expected to move towards a deal between the two Southeast Asian neighbors, which have been in talks since late last year when Thailand insisted that the Philippines slash rice tariffs to a fifth this year from 40 percent under the ASEAN trade in goods agreement. The Philippines has argued that the trade pact allowed it to exempt rice from the scheduled tariff cuts before bringing it down to 35 percent in 2015. Last month, both sides agreed for the Philippines to commit to import up to 367,000 tons of duty-free rice from Thailand if prices are competitive and demand actually exists. At that time, Thailand demanded that 50,000 tons of its high-quality rice be given preference in case the Philippines needs to buy this more expensive variant. The Philippines had resorted to buying high-quality rice before when broken rice, usually obtained from Vietnam, ran out. "Yap accepted the wording," Kabigting said, clarifying that the Philippines would not be compelled to buy high-quality rice if cheaper variants are available in the world market. "We will now be sending the draft back to Thailand. Hopefully it will be [signed] at the ASEAN Economic Ministers' meeting at the end of the month," he added. Last year, the government imported 1.575 million tons, with Vietnam cornering roughly 95 percent of all tenders, while Thai imports reached 75,000 tons. — Jessica Anne D. Hermosa, BusinessWorld