Exclusion of rice from trade deal ‘possible’
JoongAng Daily, Korea
Exclusion of rice from trade deal ‘possible’
by Jung Ha-won, Kim Won-bae
18 February 2006
With the government’s recent efforts to sign a free trade agreement with the United States drawing intense opposition from farmers here, a top Korean government official said the trade negotiators would try to exempt rice from the economic pact.
Vice Agriculture Minister Lee Myung-soo said yesterday that it could be "possible to save rice from the free trade agreement" between the two nations. His comment was made during an interview with local radio station PBC.
"Frankly, the United States is unlikely to agree to exempt rice from market liberalization. But rice is something we should safeguard till the very last moment, and I think it [excluding rice from the free trade agreement] is possible," Mr. Lee said.
Boiled rice is a staple of the Korean diet, and the Korea Rural Economic Institute estimated this week that Korea’s rice industry could suffer more than 200 billion won ($205.6 million) in losses even if the nation manages to exempt rice from any market liberalization in a deal with the United States.
The institute said lower agricultural import duties on a wide range of products could cause capital and labor to shift to other industries while providing cheaper foods to consumers, possibly reducing the nation’s already diminishing demand for rice.
