Rice exporters set up price regulator

Rice exporters set up price regulator

Agence France-Presse, Bangkok

Five major rice exporting nations agreed Wednesday to set up a
price-regulating mechanism to be known as the Council on Rice
Trade Cooperation (CRTC) after a meeting in the Thai capital.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said ahead of the talks
between ministers from China, India, Pakistan, Thailand and
Vietnam that they were likely to agree to establish a secretariat
to set floor prices.

But after two-hour discussions the five agreed only to charge
the CRTC with the "maintenance of prices at remunerative levels
to protect the interests of farmers", according to the official
minutes of the meeting.

"It's about having a price for rice that's above the cost of
production, it's not necessarily about setting a price floor," a
commerce ministry official told AFP.

The CRTC, which is to be based in Bangkok initially, is also
charged with promoting dialogue to "enhance mutual trust and
foster partnership among the five countries in rice trade in
order to promote price stability."

It will meet at least once a year at the ministerial level to
"set clear directions and guidelines for rice trade cooperation",
the statement said.

Pakistani Minister for Commerce, Industry and Production Abdul
Razzak Dawwood said he was "very happy" at the Thai government's
initiative to set up the CRTC.

"We support them and hope that the outcome will be positive...
we want to basically stabilize prices," he said.

"The main objective of this exercise is to protect our
farmers. I look upon our farmers as decent, hard-working people
who over the years have increased production and productivity and
yet they aren't getting the benefits from their hard work."

Thailand is the world's leading rice exporter, while India is
set to edge Vietnam out of the number two spot this year,
according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization forecast
in June.

China and Pakistan are the world's two other major exporters,
with China being the world's largest rice producer.

Thaksin had said that he hoped the secretariat would set
minimum price levels so that "each country would then not sell at
prices below those."

The premier said the floor prices would match 1997 levels, and
noted that current rice prices were now 30 percent lower.

"When the governments talk about how to cooperate, it will
bring justice to farmers," he said, adding the United States
would be invited to join the group later.

In August this year, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia formed
an alliance at Thailand's initiative aimed at boosting rubber
prices and improving conditions for 10 million rubber farmers in
the three countries.