ID :
199262
Fri, 08/05/2011 - 09:17
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/199262
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Seoul denies plan to purchase Indonesian rice
SEOUL, Aug. 5 (Yonhap) -- The Seoul government dismissed reports of a plan to purchase premium rice from Indonesia Friday, two days after an Indonesian official claimed his country had been asked to sell 200,000 tons of rice to South Korea.
Indonesia's Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa was quoted as saying his country had been asked by South Korea to export 200,000 tons of "premium-class" rice but that the government was considering selling only 50,000 tons.
South Korea's agriculture ministry, however, said the country has never made such a request and that it is not even able to make such a request.
As the result of its negotiations with the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2004, the country has to import 205,228 tons of rice annually from four countries -- China, Australia, Thailand and the United States -- under a country-specific quota (CSQ) system.
"Country-specific quotas state specific amounts of rice the country has to import from specific countries each year, which means the country cannot import rice (specifically) from Indonesia," the ministry said in a press release.
South Korea also imports rice from other countries but only through open bids, meaning it cannot specify Indonesia or any other country from which it will import, a ministry official said, asking not to be identified.
The official added 200,000 tons of rice claimed to have been requested by the Seoul government would be more than the roughly 142,000 tons of the staple grain that the country has to import this year in accordance with the WTO agreement.
Indonesia's Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa was quoted as saying his country had been asked by South Korea to export 200,000 tons of "premium-class" rice but that the government was considering selling only 50,000 tons.
South Korea's agriculture ministry, however, said the country has never made such a request and that it is not even able to make such a request.
As the result of its negotiations with the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2004, the country has to import 205,228 tons of rice annually from four countries -- China, Australia, Thailand and the United States -- under a country-specific quota (CSQ) system.
"Country-specific quotas state specific amounts of rice the country has to import from specific countries each year, which means the country cannot import rice (specifically) from Indonesia," the ministry said in a press release.
South Korea also imports rice from other countries but only through open bids, meaning it cannot specify Indonesia or any other country from which it will import, a ministry official said, asking not to be identified.
The official added 200,000 tons of rice claimed to have been requested by the Seoul government would be more than the roughly 142,000 tons of the staple grain that the country has to import this year in accordance with the WTO agreement.
