Rice growers worried about TPP as talks continue
July 30, 2015 |05:05 PM
U.S. rice growers are worried that the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations will not include enough increased access to the Japanese market for them to support the agreement, a key U.S. rice industry official said in an interview from Hawaii, where the talks are taking place.
Robert Cummings
“Based on a close reading of what the Japanese media [are] reporting, we aren’t frankly in a very good place,” Robert Cummings, the chief operating officer of USA Rice, said in the interview from Maui on Wednesday.
“We are not seeing any substantial access in terms of tons nor are we seeing any substantial increase in quality of access or an ability to reach Japanese consumers without interference from the Japanese government,” Cummings said.
In a followup call today, Cummings said he had not heard any more about rice negotiations.
Cummings said the TPP offers U.S. rice growers the first opportunity for export improvements since the Uruguay Round that took place between 1986 and 1994 and provided them some access to the Japanese market.
Under the Uruguay Round agreement, Japan is supposed to be open to the importation of about 682,000 metric tons of U.S. rice, but the vast majority of it goes into government stocks and is used for industry, processing and food aid, with “a little bit” used for livestock feed, Cummings said.
The Japanese government is the importer of record and imposes a markup of about $400 per metric ton. Medium grain milled rice from California is priced at about $1,000 per ton.
U.S. growers would like to get away from that system, he said.
“Our expectation is that we will not be excluded from the TPP,” Cummings said, but the question is still whether the “magnitude” of the increase will be large enough that the rice industry can support the agreement, which is expected to be a tough sell in Congress.
Very little U.S. rice goes to the Japanese consumer market, but U.S. growers don’t want additional rice going into a warehouse but into what is known as the “table” market or for processing in breweries, he said.
The TPP is also important, he concluded, because Korea and Taiwan might want to join the TPP group at a later date, Cummings added.
“This is our first chance since the Uruguay Round to improve on our access in Japan. If we don’t get a good deal out of this negotiation I don’t see a better opportunity down the road,” Cummings concluded.
Japanese Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Akira Amari, Japan’s envoy to the negotiations. has said he and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will have to meet several times in the continuing talks, Washington Trade Daily reported today.
“Based on a close reading of what the Japanese media [are] reporting, we aren’t frankly in a very good place,” Robert Cummings, the chief operating officer of USA Rice, said in the interview from Maui on Wednesday.
“We are not seeing any substantial access in terms of tons nor are we seeing any substantial increase in quality of access or an ability to reach Japanese consumers without interference from the Japanese government,” Cummings said.
In a followup call today, Cummings said he had not heard any more about rice negotiations.
Cummings said the TPP offers U.S. rice growers the first opportunity for export improvements since the Uruguay Round that took place between 1986 and 1994 and provided them some access to the Japanese market.
Under the Uruguay Round agreement, Japan is supposed to be open to the importation of about 682,000 metric tons of U.S. rice, but the vast majority of it goes into government stocks and is used for industry, processing and food aid, with “a little bit” used for livestock feed, Cummings said.
The Japanese government is the importer of record and imposes a markup of about $400 per metric ton. Medium grain milled rice from California is priced at about $1,000 per ton.
U.S. growers would like to get away from that system, he said.
“Our expectation is that we will not be excluded from the TPP,” Cummings said, but the question is still whether the “magnitude” of the increase will be large enough that the rice industry can support the agreement, which is expected to be a tough sell in Congress.
Very little U.S. rice goes to the Japanese consumer market, but U.S. growers don’t want additional rice going into a warehouse but into what is known as the “table” market or for processing in breweries, he said.
The TPP is also important, he concluded, because Korea and Taiwan might want to join the TPP group at a later date, Cummings added.
“This is our first chance since the Uruguay Round to improve on our access in Japan. If we don’t get a good deal out of this negotiation I don’t see a better opportunity down the road,” Cummings concluded.
Japanese Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Akira Amari, Japan’s envoy to the negotiations. has said he and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will have to meet several times in the continuing talks, Washington Trade Daily reported today.
