2nd december,2013 daily global rice e newsletter by riceplus magazine

2nd December , 2013

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Top rice experts hammer out proposal for Asia-Pacific rice strategy The Nation December 1, 2013 2:01 pm

Asia and the Pacific region is a step closer to adopting a regional rice strategy, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) announced today after its External Rice Advisory Group (ERAG) came up with an outline to formulate a rice strategy for the Asia-Pacific region following a two-day consultation that ended Friday night."A regional rice strategy for Asia will contribute to the betterment of people in this region, especially small farmers a majority of whom depend upon rice for their livelihoods - economically, socially and environmentally. Indeed, without rice, no sustainable development can be achieved in this region and beyond," Hiroyuki Konuma, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative, summed up the importance of the consultation's two-day effort in a statement released today.

In 2012, at the FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific in Hanoi, Viet Nam, FAO member countries asked the Organisation to organize the development of a regional rice strategy because policy-makers in Asia want to make rice farming more environmentally friendly and sustainable. A rice production strategy for Asia and the Pacific must be based on sound assessments of global demand, taking into account that rice is a somewhat differentiated commodity with demand outlook being influenced by various types of rice.Responding to its member's request, FAO established the ERAG as an advisory body on the formulation of an Asia-Pacific rice strategy. Professor M S Swaminathan, the father of India's green revolution, is chairing the ERAG and the group's team leader is R B Singh, former FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific.Rice farming is facing several new challenges, such as global climate change and the need to reduce the environmental footprint of rice farming, while increasing the efficiency of inputs like seeds, fertilizer and water. The fact that some rice growing areas lag far behind other regions and the need to ensure that the benefits of rice farming accrue equitably to women farmers, are also the issues troubling rice production.

On the other hand, according to FAO, there are several new opportunities to increase the impact of rice on hunger and poverty reduction. These include opportunities to lower post-harvest losses, raising incomes, and stabilizing the market supply through value chain improvements. There is also the growing realization that responsible markets and agriculture trade policies are needed to reduce the volatility of rice prices and avoid a repeat of the 2007/8 food crisis. Modern scientific developments are also making it possible to increase yield, reduce disaster risk, and also add nutritive value to rice. FAO warned that increased rice production is vital because Asia's economies are undergoing structural transformation in which agriculture's contribution to the gross domestic product will be smaller, and agriculture will also employ smaller proportion of the population as the economy continues to grow.Noting that a single regional rice strategy does not capture the diversity that exists in rice production systems and policy priorities across countries, the ERAG consultation decided that the Asia-Pacific rice strategy document would be useful to policy-makers in member countries if the outputs are presented in the form of strategic options and implied trade-offs instead of being prescriptive recommendations.

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The rice strategy's goals should be to increase productivity and nutrient content of rice adequately to meet the rising global demand through sustainable intensification of rice production systems; to reduce environmental footprint of rice production and enhance the ecosystem functions of rice landscapes including the protection and promotion of rice heritages and culture; to improve mitigation and adaptation of rice farming to climate change and augment farmers' capacity to manage risk; to improve the value chain by enhancing quality and safety and reducing post harvest losses; to improve the efficiency, reliability and fairness of domestic and international rice markets for stabilizing rice prices and supply, and promote regional collaboration; and to enhance the capacity and well-being, livelihoods of small holders, youth and women farmers, especially in lagging regions, to adapt to long-term changes in demography, farm size and labour supply.

TRO on rice permits bucked THE BUREAU of Customs (BoC) has moved for the dissolution of a stay order preventing the National Food Authority (NFA) from requiring import permits for inbound shipments of rice.

In a statement over the weekend, the Finance department sad the BoC last Nov. 25 filed an Urgent Motion to Dissolve Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and Opposition to Application for Writ of Preliminary Injunction regarding the stay order issued by Judge Eutiquio L. Quitain, presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court in Lemery, Batangas, Branch 5.The TRO in question stops the NFA from requiring traders to secure an import permit for their rice imports, pursuant to NFA Memorandum Circular No. AO-2K13-03-003.The TRO likewise prevents the BoC from seizing, alerting and/or holding rice shipments without the required import permits.The order, issued by Mr. Quitain last Nov. 15, is effective for a period of 20 days or until Dec. 5.The TRO was issued in the action for declaratory relief filed by Ivy M. Souza, doing business under the name and style Bold Bidder Marketing and General Merchandise.

"Ms. Souza is asking the court to declare that the NFA does not have the authority to require the import permits as a requirement for importing rice," the Finance department said."She cites the alleged expiration of the special treatment provision in the World Trade Organization-General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (WTO-GATT) as basis for her case," it added.The country, under the WTO-GATT, was allowed to impose quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice imports.This allows the Philippines to impose higher tariff on importations of the commodity beyond a certain volume.Imports within the minimum access volume of 350,000 metric tons are subject to the 40% duty. Imports in excess are subjected to a 50% rate.The QR on rice, granted by the WTO in 2006, lapsed last June 30, 2012. The country, however, wants this special treatment on rice extended to 2017.The government had formally filed with the WTO in November 2011 its intent to start talks on the extension. Negotiations are still ongoing, with a decision expected by March next year.

TRO on rice permits bucked The BoC, in its motion, noted that following the rulings of the Supreme Court, Mr. Quitain could not have issued the TRO without first conducting a summary hearing where all the parties, including the government,

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should have been heard."The BoC also argued that Ms. Souza failed to clearly establish her right under current laws. It asserted that existing laws impose restrictions on rice importation and, in particular, authorize the NFA to require a rice importer to secure an import permit as a pre-condition for rice importation," the department said.These laws are under Republic Act No. 8178 or the "Agricultural Tarrification Act" and Presidential Decree No. 4 or the "National Grains Authority Act." Given this situation, the BoC asserted that Ms. Souza had no right to invoke the WTO-GATT," it saidThe department added that Ms. Souza, based on Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) records, had not filed any income tax returns for her firm, except for the year 2012.

"Peculiarly, the tax return filed for the year 2012 shows that Bold Bidder Marketing and General Merchandise had ‗no operations‘," it said.The Philippines is currently the largest importer of rice in the world, importing around 2.4 million metric tons (MT) of rice in 2010.Since then the Department of Agriculture (DA) has steadily reduced it to only 1.1 million MT in 2011, 688,559 MT in 2012, and 208,600 MT as of July 18, 2013, government records show.The DA said there was zero importation by the private sector from January to July 18, 2013.At the same time, the department said Philippine palay production went up by 5.78% to 16.7 million MT in 2011 from 15.8 million MT in 2010.Palay production rose further by 8.08% to 18 million MT in 2012, which is considered as the highest ever annual palay production in the Philippines, the department said. -Bettina Faye V. Roc

Storms cut rice harvest growth

By Anna Leah G. Estrada | Dec. 03, 2013 at 12:03am

Rice production growth is expected to decline from 8.1 percent last year to 4 percent this year, after typhoons damaged farms and irrigation areas, an agriculture official said Monday.―For this year, palay [unmilled rice] production growth will slow down to 4 percent from the average 5 to 8 percent growth for the past years,‖ Agriculture Undersecretary for operations and national rice program coordinator Dante Delima said.Palay production hit 18.03 million metric tons in 2012, up 8.1 percent from 16.68 million metric tons in 2011.Delima earlier said palay production could post a flat growth this year, after a 1.1-percent decline in the first three quarters, but initial reports from Central Luzon showed the major rice-producing region had a good production in the fourth quarter. ―Region 3 [Central Luzon] was able to post positive growth in palay production. They reported last week and told us that their production grew by 1.5 percent,‖ Delima said.Most rice producing provinces such as Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Bulacan are located in Central Luzon.Delima said for the next three years, growth in palay production might settle at 4 percent annually, unless more investments were made in irrigate

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FAO urges global rice supply strategy

By Ronnel W. Domingo:Philippine Daily Inquirer 10:07 pm | Sunday, December 1st, 2013

The Food and Agriculture Organization is crafting a strategy on rice, the consumption of which has been increasing while resources related to its production are dwindling.The FAO, an agency of the United Nations, has called on an external rice advisory group for recommendations for such a strategy, focused mainly on the Asia-Pacific region where 90 percent of global supply is grown.According to FAO assistant director general Hiroyuki Konuma, Asia‘s share of rice exports accounts for about 80 percent of global rice trade.Rice ―is the most important commodity for the economy, food security and the livelihoods of the people in Asia,‖ said Konuma, who is also representative of FAO‘s regional office for Asia and the Pacific based in Bangkok.In a statement sent out from the Thai capital, the FAO warned that the growth of rice production is ―under threat on many fronts,‖ with farmers getting older amid scarce resources and the adverse effects of climate change.Related data from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which is based in Laguna, show that almost half of the world‘s population of 7.16 billion people depend on rice.At the same time, the total area of productive land that is cultivated for rice is receding and currently pegged at 8.54 billion hectares.By IRRI‘s reckoning, a hectare of rice land is lost every seven or eight seconds.

Within the same moment, about 20 humans are born.

The FAO notes that in the Asia-Pacific, rice production dominates the agricultural sector and is an important base of economies, the environment, culture as well as livelihoods for hundreds of millions of farmers.The ricebased economy is suffering from scarcity of resources—particularly water and land—while rice farming is also blamed for greenhouse gas emissions and degrading natural resources, the organization added.Even then, per capita consumption of rice in the region is slowing as incomes grow.Citing the 2012 Survey of Food Demand for Agricultural Commodities in the Philippines, agriculture officials say Filipinos consumed an average of about 114.3 kilograms of rice last year.The number shrank from 128 kilos in 2008, 119.2 kilos in 2009, 114.8 kilos in 2010 and 115.3 kilos in 2011.However, Konuma said consumption elsewhere in the globe—particularly Africa—is growing.He said rice is now the staple food in more than 10 countries in Africa, and is becoming an increasingly crucial factor in food security not only in Asia but worldwide.Also in 2012, the FAO established the external advisory group to provide advice on formulating the Asia rice strategy.Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, the Indian scientist credited for leading his country‘s Green Revolution, chairs the advisory group.

Thailand Speeding Up Rice Sales To Exporters Posted by: : Paul EbelingPosted on: November 30, 2013

Thailand Speeding Up Rice Sales To Exporters

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The Thai Commerce Ministry is speeding up rice sales to exporters and the private sector to earn and return at least Bt 12.3-B to the national coffers.Surasak Riangkrul, Foreign Trade Department director general, said the Rice Release Subcommittee has approved the sales of 615,000 tonnes of rice from M-Ys 2011/12 and 2012/13.The rice to be sold under the subsidy program include 10o%, 2nd grade, Hom Mali rice, 5% white glutinous rice, 10% broken-milled rice, and A-1 white broken-milled rice.CP Rice, Asia Golden Rice, Capital Cereals, Royal Richy Rice and an unnamed joint export group are some of the exporters to buy rice from the Commerce Ministry.Mr Surasak said the rice sales will enable the Commerce Ministry to pay Bt 30-B to the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives in the final Quarter of the year.He said Thailand‘s rice exports will be higher in Q-4 due to the government‘s rice release from its stockpiles, government-to-government rice sales and domestic sales to the private sector.He predicted a rosy trend for Thai rice exports next year when at least eight million tonnes of rice, at a total value of US$4.4-B, will be exported at an average price of US$600/tonne.Thailand exported 5.68-M tonnes of rice for US$3.817-B (Bt114.77-B) from 1 January to 20 November this year, a drop from the corresponding period last year when rice exports reached 6.2-M tonnes, he said.The Commerce Ministry forecast this year‘s rice exports at 8.5-M tonnes forUS $5.7-B (Bt 171.3-B) overall.

Vietnam's November Rice Exports Down 23.6% on Month at 410,423 Tons

By Vu Trong Khanh HANOI--Vietnam exported 410,423 metric tons of rice in November, down 23.6% from October, the Vietnam Food Association said Monday.November's rice exports are also lower than an estimate of 540,000 tons released by the General Statistics Office late last month.For the first 11 months of this year, Vietnam exported 6.14 million tons of rice valued at $2.65 billion, down 13.5% in volume and down 16.4% in value from the same period last year, the association said in its weekly report.The association didn't give any reasons for the decline, but state media cited the association's chairman, Truong Thanh Phong, as saying last month that abundant supplies from other rice producers such as Pakistan and India and Thailand's move to cut prices to boost export competitiveness have affected Vietnam's shipments.Vietnam is expected to export 6.7 million tons of rice this year compared with a record high of 7.72 million tons last year.

Write to Vu Trong Khanh at trong-khanh.vu@wsj.com

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Commerce Ministry: Thailand will be able to export more rice during the remaining of 2013 29.11.2013

Thailand will be able to export more rice during the remaining of this year, says the Department of Foreign Trade.According to Director General of the department Surasak Riengkruea, the higher rice export figure stems from the government's efforts in clearing the stockpiled rice via G-2-G deals as well as selling it to domestic vendors. In addition, Thai rice has competitive prices comparing to that of other rice exporting countries.Thailand has exported 5.6 million tons of rice, worth 114.7 billion baht, from the beginning of this year until November 20th, a decrease from last year's figures of 6.2 tons or 131.3 billion baht.The Director General, however, predicted that Thailand would be able to export 8.5 million tons of rice, worth 171.3 billion baht altogether, by year's end. As for 2014, Mr. Surasak expected the industry to perform better, saying the country should be able to export at least 8 million tons, to the tune of 154 billion baht.

Govt urgently selling rice to fill state coffers Saturday, 30 November 2013 By MCOT

BANGKOK, Nov 29 – The Commerce Ministry is speeding up rice sales to exporters and the private sector to earn and return at least Bt12.3 billion to the national coffers.Surasak Riangkrul, Foreign Trade Department director general, said the Rice Release Subcommittee has approved the sales of 615,000 tonnes of rice from the 2011/12 and 2012/13 crops.

The rice to be sold under the subsidy programme include 100 per cent, second grade, Hom Mali rice, 5 per cent white glutinous rice, 10 per cent broken-milled rice, and A-1 white broken-milled rice.CP Rice, Asia Golden Rice, Capital Cereals, Royal Richy Rice and an unnamed joint export group are some of the exporters to buy rice from the Commerce Ministry.Mr Surasak said the rice sales will enable the Commerce Ministry to pay Bt30 billion to the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives in the final quarter of the year.He said Thailand‘s rice exports will be higher in Q4 due to the government‘s rice release from its stockpiles, government-to-government rice sales and domestic sales to the private sector.He predicted a rosy trend for Thai rice exports next year when at least eight million tonnes of rice, at a total value of US$4.4 billion, will be exported at an average price of US$600/tonne.Thailand exported 5.68 million tonnes of rice for US$3.817 billion (Bt114.77 billion) from January 1 to November 20 this year – a drop from the corresponding period last year when rice exports reached 6.22 million tonnes, he said.The Commerce Ministry forecast this year‘s rice exports at 8.5 million tonnes for $5.7 billion (Bt171.3 billion) overall.

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NFC to purchase 28.500 tonnes of paddy this year RSS

KATHMANDU, Dec 2: The Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) is to purchase 28,500 tonnes of paddy this year.The NFC has forwarded a clear policy to purchase more and more paddy around November by giving rightful price to farmers, rather than buy rice in around June. At a programme organised here today on the occasion of the 39th anniversary of NFC, it was informed that the NFC would sell rice by grinding it in its own mill after purchasing paddy to improve economic condition of NFC, which has worsened in recent days. The NFC has drawn a conclusion that there would be improvement in its financial situation considerably during a short period as the NFC would get two-fold benefit than the cost price while selling rice by grinding paddy in its own mill.

The NFC has been making preparations to buy more than 16,000 tonnes of paddy from Banke, Bardiya and Kailali districts for the same.The government provided Rs. 465.3 million transport subsidy amount to NFC this year to provide rice in fair price to people of 23 remote districts. The NFC has now a stock of 18,000 tonnes of rice worth Rs. 550 million, it is learnt.On the occasion, Officiating Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Supply, Deepak Subedi, pointed out the need that the government and employees associated to NFC should move ahead by reviewing on the works carried out the NFC to face challenges to be occurred in course of making NFC competitive. General Manager of NFC, Dr. Shiva Hari Shrestha, said that it was necessary to make nutrition education effective as there was no food shortage in remote VDCs, but there was only shortage of rice.Joint-Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture Development, Uttam Kumar Bhattarai, assured that the ministry would provide support as far as possible for strengthening NFC. Chairman of the NFC Employee´s Association, Madhav Aryal, and senior Vice-Chairman of the Employees´ Union, Achyutraj Poudel, requested the concerned ministry to pay special attention as the economic condition of NFC was deteriorating and the management side to carry out works by paying attention on employees´ service and facilities.

Govt urgently selling rice to fill state coffers Saturday, 30 November 2013By MCOT

BANGKOK, Nov 29 – The Commerce Ministry is speeding up rice sales to exporters and the private sector to earn and return at least Bt12.3 billion to the national coffers.Surasak Riangkrul, Foreign Trade Department director general, said the Rice Release Subcommittee has approved the sales of 615,000 tonnes of rice from the 2011/12 and 2012/13 crops.The rice to be sold under the subsidy programme include 100 per cent, second grade, Hom Mali rice, 5 per

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cent white glutinous rice, 10 per cent broken-milled rice, and A-1 white broken-milled rice.CP Rice, Asia Golden Rice, Capital Cereals, Royal Richy Rice and an unnamed joint export group are some of the exporters to buy rice from the Commerce Ministry.Mr Surasak said the rice sales will enable the Commerce Ministry to pay Bt30 billion to the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives in the final quarter of the year.He said Thailand‘s rice exports will be higher in Q4 due to the government‘s rice release from its stockpiles, government-to-government rice sales and domestic sales to the private sector.

He predicted a rosy trend for Thai rice exports next year when at least eight million tonnes of rice, at a total value of US$4.4 billion, will be exported at an average price of US$600/tonne.Thailand exported 5.68 million tonnes of rice for US$3.817 billion (Bt114.77 billion) from January 1 to November 20 this year – a drop from the corresponding period last year when rice exports reached 6.22 million tonnes, he said.The Commerce Ministry forecast this year‘s rice exports at 8.5 million tonnes for $5.7 billion (Bt171.3 billion) overall.

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