Georgetown, GINA, June 25, 2008

Just back from the Meeting of the 87th session of the African, Pacific and Caribbean (ACP) Council of Ministers in Addis, Ababa, Ethiopia, held from June 8 to 11, Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation, Henry Jeffrey is calling on the ACP to ensure that the specific interests of Guyana and Suriname do not go unnoticed.
This is in light of the proposal of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that rice be regarded as a tropical product and as such, subject to preference cuts.
With the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) region currently making attempts to transform its agricultural sector and to create an atmosphere of food security, the Minister believes that the rice industry is crucial to its maintenance and this argument formed part of the Minister’s statement to the ACP’s Council of Ministers in Ethiopia.
“In relation to the WTO/ACP relations, it has slipped somewhat under the radar largely because, I believe, it concerns only Guyana and Suriname and we have tended to not make much of it,” the Foreign Trade Minister said as he noted that, at less than half a million tonnes, CARICOM’s rice production is a small part of the global rice industry.
“While global rice production is in the vicinity of 450 million tonnes, rice traded on the international market is less than 10 percent of that, however, our region’s rice industry is crucial to maintaining our food security and providing a livelihood for over 100,000 families,” he underscored.
Rice exportation is also regarded as an important source of Guyana and Suriname’s foreign exchange as finances garnered from this amount to US $120M on an annual basis while the commodity is also an important food source to the region.
Minister Jeffrey stated that Guyana and Suriname, the major rice producing and exporting member states of CARICOM, have benefited over the years from two key preferential markets; CARICOM and the European Union (EU), and most recently, adjustments to the EU regime have, as in other areas, already reduced the preferential access for rice.
“We understand the present global context and the need for us to eventually become internationally competitive, thus, by way of the European Development Fund (EDF), the industry has committed an investment of some 24 million Euros” he argued.
On this note, Minister Jeffrey told the Ministers that as participants in the recently initiated Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU, Guyana and Suriname would have duty-free access to the EU market for increased quotas until 2009 and thereafter, all exports will be duty-free and quota-free.
“Because of the current reforms, it is expected that our exports will increase significantly and, at this stage, the EU market and the level of preference that exists, are most important to this expanding industry, therefore it is with some alarm that we view the latest proposals on rice coming from the WTO,” the Foreign Trade Minister asserted.
The Minister pointed out to the Council that in the negotiations on agriculture, there are three main issues that could have serious implications for the level of preference enjoyed by Guyana and Suriname on the EU market:

The general tariff reduction formula that would apply to rice
Whether the EU is willing to declare rice a sensitive product
The positions surrounding preference-related and tropical products
“As we understand it, the current draft negotiating text provides for two options in the treatment of preference products, the first is that all products on the list of preference should be given a 10-year moratorium on tariff reduction and five additional years to complete the process based on the general tariff reduction formula,” he underscored to the Council.
The Minister then outlined that the second option be for only an additional two years over and above the implementation period applicable to other products.
“The latter option is most unacceptable to us,” he strongly emphasised, noting that there is a further issue in the text that could prove to be prejudicial to rice exporters and exporters of other products to the EU.
“It is proposed that, where a product occurs on both the preference and tropical products lists, the latter should prevail in terms of treatment, unless otherwise stated. This would have the effect of nullifying the entire thrust of the preference-related proposals since, as was stated earlier, the two lists overlap significantly,” he told the Council.
The two countries to be affected most by the proposed preference erosions, Guyana and Suriname’s proposal is for some of the overlapping products to be treated on a case-by-case basis, according to the Minister, who relayed this to the Council and noted that the following has been recommended:

That all relevant rice tariff headings be included on the list of preference-related products
That a modality that would have the effect of delaying the commencement of tariff reduction by the EU for a reasonable period be implemented-such as the proposal in the current text for a 10-year moratorium and an additional five-year implementation period
That rice should not be treated as a ‘tropical product’ regardless of whether or not it continues to be stated on the tropical products list
Minister Jeffrey concluded that the proposal at c) above is possible if rice is transferred to “Annex X’ of the WTO process which allows for such case by case treatment.
Yesterday, during an interview, the Minister expressed concern about the WTO’s proposal and noted that Guyana has already begun lobbying for the support of other nations so that a strong case could be made at the WTO level on the matter.