China
stops broken rice imports from Myanmar
“Some
traders have been exporting rice under the broken rice category but officially,
only rice is tradable at the Myanmar-China border. So, the Chinese authorities
have cracked down on all broken rice and suspended trade,” said U Nay Lin Zin,
secretary of Myanmar Rice Miller Association.
“Rumours
had been spreading that Myanmar rice exports to China were suspended but
actually, rice export permits can be classified into broken rice permits,
long-grain rice permits and short grain rice permits,” he added.
Notably,
export tax rates are 5 percent on broken rice while the rates for rice exports
are 50pc to 60 pc, traders said.
As the
tax rate for rice exports to China is very high, many merchants export
illegally to avoid paying the tax. Currently, broken rice exports have been
suspended, said rice merchants.
“Right
now, China is restricting illegal exports of rice. We can still export rice but
this must be under the right permits. For example, long-grain rice permits are
for the exports of long-grain rice only, and not other classifications,” said U
Myo Thura Aye, rice merchant.
In
Myanmar, Ae Ma Hta rice is recognised as long grain rice and Paw San rice is
considered a short grain rice. It can be categorised depending on the shape of
grain.
The suspension comes amid demands for China to raise its official rice import
quota from Myanmar to 400,000 tonnes annually from 100,000 tonnes currently.
According
to data from the Ministry of Commerce, over 50 percent of Myanmar-produced rice
is sold to China via the border.
Myanmar
exported 1.7 million tonnes of rice and broken rice worth US$ 578 million
between April and December last year, according to the Ministry of
Commerce. Around 52pc was exported by sea, while the rest was sold
at the border to China.
At those
levels, rice exports have decreased by over a third from 2.5 million tonnes
worth US$780 million in the same period the year before. The main reason for
the recent fall in exports is lower demand from China.
Take Time To Read Our Document;
We Provided Solutions To Strengthen Cedi -
Gov't Told
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NDC MP For Bia East
Constituency, Hon. Richard Acheampong
Related Stories
Member of Parliament for Bia
East Constituency in the Western Region, Hon. Richard Acheampong says the
Minority in Parliament through their press conference on Wednesday 20th March,
2019 has offered solutions to aid the free fall of the Cedi.
According to him, the Akufo-Addo
government should take time to read the proposal of the Minority as all his
government needs to resolve the economic challenges confronting the country has
been blueprinted.
Speaking on Okay FM’s 'Ade Akye
Abia' Morning Show, Hon. Acheampong said one of the propositions of the
Minority to appreciate the Cedi is for the Akufo-Addo government to focus on
the Aveyime Rice Project as he promised.
He explained that the country
would have saved $1.3 billion from the importation of rice into the country
every year if the Aveyime Rice Project is functioning; thus, this is one of the
proposals presented by the Minority.
He added that another proposal
of the Minority which they believe can help importers has to do with the
special import levy; in that, the government should remove such a levy from the
importers so that they can feel free to import more.
“So we have given them solutions
to help the Cedi and the economy and it is not as if we just held a press
conference without mentioning what they need to do. If they will take time to
read the document, they will see the solutions we have proposed,” he stated.
He again charged the government
to scrub the luxury vehicle tax so that importers can have financial muscles to
do their businesses; reiterating that the luxury vehicle tax is another cause
of economic hardship on importers and on Ghanaians in general.
Hon. Richard Acheampong insisted
that government can save close to $4 billion from only rice and sugar if it
will do the needful by resuscitating the sugar factory and the Aveyime rice
project.
The Minister of Information,
Hon. Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah reacting to the Minority's press conference on
Wednesday says the NDC’s state of the economy and the challenges facing the
Cedi is the usual wrong predictions.
“At first, the Minority said
there will be famine like it happened in 1983 but now there is bounty harvest
of food stuffs and if today they are giving another prediction of the economy,
we don’t have any response for them but we will continue to work to ensure that
our economy is boosted enough to create jobs for the teaming youth in the
country,” he said on Peace FM'sEvening News.
But the Bia East lawmaker
posited that “maybe they have not taken time to read our write-up, but if they
think it is needless to hold the press conference, then it is equally needless
to vote; don’t we all know Ghana is a developing country? Why are we looking
for a leader to run the country? Then we should allow the military to rule us
because we know our problems already”.
Source: Daniel Adu
Darko/Peacefmonline.com/bigdallas1985@gmail.coM
http://www.peacefmonline.com/pages/politics/politics/201903/378338.php
NFA nearly done on last batch of rice imports
March 21, 2019 | 10:20 pm
A worker at the NFA Quezon City warehouse.
-- PHILIPPINE STAR/MICHAEL VARCAS
THE National Food Authority (NFA) said its
warehouses have received 457,747.577 metric tons (MT) worth of imported rice
out of the 500,000 MT authorized in the agency’s last year of import
operations, consisting of the 25% broken grade of well-milled long grain white
rice.
The NFA said the shipment level as of March 19
included bad orders of 466.263 MT and short-landed rice shipped but not yet
arrived) of 731.660 MT, with a balance of 23,054.500 MT.
Last year’s rice shipments are to be the last
handled by the NFA before the effectivity of the Rice Tariffication Law, which
relegates it to buying domestic rice to maintain a buffer stock while leaving
imports to the private sector.
Of the rice purchased in
government-to-government deals, the NFA has received 201,115.084 MT from
Thailand and Vietnam, out of the 203,000 MT purchased.
Bad orders amounted to 375.835 MT, 321.081 MT
remained short-landed. Balance stood at 1,188 MT.
Rex C. Estoperez, NFA Assistant Director for
Marketing Operations, said in a phone interview Thursday that the remaining
balances — those which are not en route — are “minimal.”
The Rice Tariffication Law came into force on
March 5.
According to the NFA, its domestic procurement
amounted to 232,447 bags of palay, or unmilled rice, in the first two months of
2019, with purchases up 2,100% year-on-year.
The NFA hopes to buy at least 7,780,000 bags of
palay in 2019. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio
Agri sector to
‘survive’ even after PH opens up to more imported rice – Pinol
Published
By Madelaine Miraflor
Amid the
passage of the Rice Tariffication Bill, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol
already set aside his “fears” and said he will make sure the agriculture sector
will “survive” the anticipated entry of more imported rice in the local market.
Department
of Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol
(Mark Balmores / Manila Bulletin File Photo)
(Mark Balmores / Manila Bulletin File Photo)
“The
signing into law of the Rice Liberalization and Tariffication Measure which
would open the Philippine market to imported rice has resulted in shockwaves
now being felt the rice industry stakeholders,” Piñol said in his recent
Facebook post.
But he
also said the sector should “prevail” even if he is not too comfortable with
the measure.
The
liberalization of rice importation is seen to dampen the local production of
rice because of the gap between the prices of imported and locally produced
rice.
Right
now, the cost of producing rice in the Philippines stands at P12 per kilo,
which is more than half of the production cost of rice farmers in Vietnam and
Thailand.
The
original intention of the Rice Tariffication Bill is only to remove the volume
restrictions on rice imports and replace them with tariffs as required by the
country’s commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
But
lawmakers also decided to remove the regulatory functions of the National Food
Authority (NFA).
“This
measure was opposed by the rice industry stakeholders because of fears that it
could lead to a chaotic rice trading. I shared the same view and expressed my
opposition to this measure both publicly and officially in position papers
submitted by the DA,” Piñol said.
“We were
overruled by the economic managers. The Senate abandoned the version of the
Lower House on Rice Tariffication and embraced an all-encompassing Rice
Liberalization version. I will be lying if I say that I feel comfortable with
the measure. The truth is just like the rice farmers, I have my misgiving and
fears,” he added.
Under
the Rice Tariffication Bill, one does not need to get an import permit from the
NFA to be able to bring in imported rice.
Despite
this, Piñol said that as part of the government, the Department of Agriculture
(DA) must do its part to ensure that the law is implemented well.
“I have
to throw my fears and misgivings to the backseat and perform my duty as
Secretary of Agriculture to ensure that the law is implemented while the rice
farming sector is also protected,” Piñol said.
Right
now, DA and its attached agencies are already identifying their strategies to
cushion the adverse effect of the massive inflow of cheap imported rice on
local rice farmers.
In 2018,
crops production, composed mainly of rice and corn, accounted for 50.40 percent
of the total agricultural output. Palay production declined by 2.20 percent
because of the many typhoons that hit the country during the year.
Part of
DA’s strategy moving forward is to strengthen support to the rice farmers through
the provision of free seeds, fertilizers, solar irrigation, equipment and
credit.
NFA will
also intensify its local procurement program and will continue to buy
clean and dry palay at P17 per kilo with additional P3.70 incentive per kilo.
Piñol
said the agency will also encourage and support rice farmers to use rice seed
varieties with better eating quality so that their produce would fetch a better
price.
Piñol
also said that even with liberalization, the country will still not abandon its
rice self-sufficiency goal as well as its rice output target for the year,
which stands at 20 million MT.
Urgency
and proactive governance
Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:24 AM March 22,
2019
In 1991, Metro Manila and
the rest of Luzon suffered long daily power outages (aka brownouts) because
demand had well outstripped generation capacity. Five years before, the
government decided not to operate the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, plagued from
the beginning by safety and corruption issues. The disastrous April 1986
Chernobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine sparked the final decision to scrap the
plant, which was to provide 621 megawatts of new power. But the government
somehow missed providing any new alternative power sources to make up for it.
This failure of planning
and action cost the Philippine economy negative growth in 1991—not to mention
great hardship to millions of Filipinos affected by the lack of electricity.
The power situation put the newly elected administration of Fidel V. Ramos in
1992 in a great bind, its back literally against the wall to act with extreme
urgency. It embarked on immediate relief via emergency diesel power plants, and
set in motion the construction of long-term power capacity needed to bring the
Philippine economy into the 21st century.
In 1995, the price of rice
skyrocketed and long queues for subsidized rice formed at the National Food
Authority, the only entity that could import rice then (and until recently),
because the NFA had made bad timing decisions on importing the grain. It was
around then that the country sought and obtained a waiver from the newly formed
World Trade Organization on removing quantitative restrictions (QRs) on rice
imports and converting them into import tariffs. Meant to give the country
additional “breathing space” so we could work to make our own rice industry
competitive, we ended up extending the waiver twice, keeping the QRs for more
than another two decades.
We somehow got too
comfortable with the trade wall we built and maintained around the rice
industry, leading to complacency on long-term measures needed to raise
productivity in rice farming and processing for international competitiveness.
While episodes of zooming rice prices hit every administration since, it took
last year’s dramatic price spike—again and as always, due to bad import timing
decisions by the NFA—to finally get the government to take the step that will
force it out of such complacency, and truly work toward the sustainable
long-term welfare of our farmers.
Today, the hot issue is
lack of water in Metro Manila, and the long and short of it is that the
government failed to do what it should have done years ago, which is to provide
for new sources of water for the metropolis beyond what Angat Dam supplies.
More than 10 years ago, as independent director in the Manila Water Company
then, I was already hearing calls from the company’s management for the
government to plan and put in place additional water sources to feed Metro
Manila’s rapidly growing needs. The company had done the admirable job of
dramatically reducing nonrevenue water (NRW)—water lost from leaky pipes or
stolen through illegal connections—from around 65 percent down to the low
teens, via huge investments to replace old pipes and improved community
distribution mechanisms. Those savings effectively saved taxpayers the cost of
a new dam’s additional water supply.
But Manila Water had
already exceeded world norms in NRW efficiency, and was urging the government
to act back then, if we were to meet future needs. But somehow, we again had to
wait until our backs are literally against the proverbial wall, for the
government to finally get moving. Critics allege that the solution now urgently
offered us—the China-funded Kaliwa Dam project—is not only disadvantageous to
the government, but also harmful to long-term social and environmental
sustainability. And yet there were several more alternatives that could have
been pursued much earlier, if the government had only moved with more
proactiveness and anticipation.
To be fair, our national
planners have always looked far ahead in planning our future. But all too
often, it is politicians and inept bureaucrats who lack the sense of urgency
and anticipatory action that has earned us the description of being great in
planning, but miserable failures in execution.
cielito.habito@gmail.com
Security Bank sees 2019 GDP
growth at 6-6.4%
March 21, 2019 | 10:15 pm
SECURITY BANK Corp. expects the Philippine
economy to grow 6-6.4% this year, flagging concerns about the 2019 national
budget.
In a news conference on Thursday, Security Bank
chief economist Robert Dan J. Roces said GDP will likely grow between 6% and
6.4% in 2019, although the estimate still represents a “wait and see” forecast.
“We have yet to really [see] where the Budget
impasse issues are headed. But it can really go to as low as 6%. This is the
forecast range we have right now assuming that the Budget gets passed around
after April. Mr. Roces told reporters yesterday.
Mr. Roces added that GDP growth can fall to as
low as 5-5.6% under a full-year reenacted budget, although he noted that it
will not go down to 4-4.5%.
“We hope Budget gets passed because a lot of
stuff depends on that — spending, workers, consumption spending.”
The inter-agency Development Budget
Coordination Committee last week slashed its 2019 GDP growth forecast to 6-7%
from 7-8% originally as the government operates on a reenacted budget.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M.
Pernia said a reenacted budget until April could drag full-year growth to
6.1-6.3%, far from the government’s original target, likely matching 2018’s
6.2% pace.
Mr. Roces also noted that the economy will slow
down in the first half of the year “because there’s no movement in terms of
infrastructure spending” due to the election ban, although he said that this
may have been factored in by the economic managers.
Last month, the Commission on Elections said it
is reviewing the request of state economic managers to exempt 145
infrastructure projects from the 45-day ban on public works ahead of the May 13
mid-term polls.
Mr. Rocves remains optimistic about economic
growth overall.
“We are still bullish about economic growth
because there are factors at play now that are positive for us. For example, we
have (more) rice imports. Rice was one of the biggest primary drivers of
inflation last year,” he said.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed on Feb. 14
the Rice Tariffication Law. The measure seeks to liberalize imports of the
staple, while charging tariffs on the imports.
The relaxed rules for rice imports, which took
effect on March 5, are expected to cut retail prices of the staple by up to P7
per kilogram and inflation by 0.7-0.8 percentage point.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said
the Philippines is banking on infrastructure to support continued economic
growth, which he said will offset any downside from a global slump.
“Our government expects to invest about $170
billion in this program over the next five years. This is our secret weapon to
offset the effects of the expected global economic slowdown,” Mr. Dominguez
said in his speech during the Philippine Economic Briefing in Beijing. — Karl
Angelo N. Vidal
Enforcing a ban will not end the menace of
stubble burning, say researchers
NEW DELHI, MARCH
21, 2019 22:54 IST
Burning issue: A file photo of a worker burning
paddy straw or leftover stubble on the outskirts of Mohali in Punjab.
‘Farmers must be
educated on its monetary costs’
Only
educating farmers about the monetary costs of burning stubble can address the
environmental crisis triggered every year in Punjab, says a team of Swiss and
Indian researchers who interviewed 600 farmers over two years. Burning stubble,
the rice chaff left over after harvesting, is linked to winter air-pollution in
the State as well as down-wind Delhi
According
to the team, the government’s efforts — earmarking funds for specialised
farming equipment (for straw management) or enforcing the state-led ban on the
practice — are unlikely to solve the problem.
Farmer
cooperative groups — a key link between government and farmers — ought to be
playing a more active role in educating farmers, say key authors associated
with the study.
Cheap solution
“The
main message is that farmers are not to blame (for the pollution crisis),” says
Max Friedrich, a post-doctoral researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of
Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag). “There are deeper causes beyond
economic incentives or awareness about the health consequences of burning at
play.”
On
average, about 20 million tonnes of straw are generated in Punjab, and they
barely have two to three weeks to dispose them of and prepare the fields for
the next crop. Hence the popularity of deploying stubble-burning as a quick and
cheap solution.
For
about a decade now, the Delhi and the Centre have held this practice
responsible for the abysmal air quality in the capital in winter.
In 2013,
the National Green Tribunal issued a directive to Punjab, Haryana and Uttar
Pradesh asking them to ban such stubble burning. The environment ministers of
these States as well as top officials at the Centre declared a “zero tolerance”
policy on the burning of stubble, which has been estimated to contribute
anywhere from 7% to 78% of the particulate matter-emission load in Delhi during
winter.
The
Centre has spent about ₹600 crore in subsidising farm equipment via
village cooperatives to enable farmers to access them and avoid stubble
burning. In 2018, Punjab had disbursed about 8,000 farm implements to
individual farmers and set up 4,795 custom hiring centres, from where such
machinery could be leased. The cost of hiring these machines was about ₹5,000 an
acre, as The Hindu has previously
reported.
Mixed results
However,
the success of these efforts has been mixed, even though stubble-fires in 2018
were fewer than in 2017 and 2016, according to satellite maps by independent
researchers.
In their
interviews, the researchers found that farmers who had bigger landholdings were
more likely to burn straw; those who used combine harvesters (for cutting the
straw) as opposed to manual labourers were more likely to engage in burning;
and those who burnt or didn’t burn were equally aware of the steps and
procedures required to abstain from burning, said Dr. Friedrich. On average,
the input costs of farmers who burned straw were about ₹40,000
per acre and those who didn’t about ₹25,000 per acre but the incomes of those who
burned and those who didn’t were closer — about ₹60,000 and ₹50,000 respectively.
“There
needs to be greater participation by village cooperatives in being able to
impose social norms that would dissuade burners,” said Banalata Sen, an
independent public health professional, associated with the study, coordinated
by Ranas Mosler (affiliated to Eawag), the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture
(CSA), Hyderabad and Kethi Virasat Mission (KVM), Jaitu, India.
Comprehensive
sake study group formed in Niigata
JIJI
NIIGATA - A group
has been formed in the city of Niigata to promote comprehensive study on sake
from an academic perspective.
Domestic
sake consumption is on a declining trend after a recent boom. Meanwhile, tours
to visit breweries and taste local sake are drawing attention from foreign
travelers.
On March
8, researchers gathered for the inaugural general meeting of the academic
society established at the initiative of Niigata University professor Akira
Sawamura.
The
national university in Niigata Prefecture, which has the largest number of sake
breweries among the country’s 47 prefectures, opened a course on the alcoholic
beverage, made from rice, in April last year.
The
study group has some 20 founding members, including researchers of 15
universities and graduate schools across the country, such as Fukuoka
University, Yamagata University, Nagoya University and a graduate school of
Kobe University.
Member
researchers will conduct research on sake using their expertise in agriculture,
economics, pharmacy and other areas. Their findings will be shared mainly at an
annual general meeting.
The
group is also considering publishing a collection of essays and holding lecture
meetings open to the public.
“New
values and research fields will be opened up as we bring together scholars
studying sake from across the country,” Nami Goto, chair of the study group and
president of the National Research Institute of Brewing, said at the inaugural
meeting.
Shunji
Odaira, head of the Niigata Sake Brewers Association, expressed hope that the
study group will promote deeper public understanding of the historical and
cultural backgrounds of sake so that its appeal will be communicated more
widely.
Sushi Donuts:
Hole Foods?
By Lesley Dixon
ARLINGTON, VA -- When you think of sushi, you
probably think of the maki roll: rice, fish, and veggies or fruit rolled
up in seaweed paper (nori) and sliced into bite-sized little disks. From
California's sushi burrito to Toronto's sushi pizza, chefs and restaurants
across the U.S. are taking advantage of customer demand for unique,
Instagram-able dishes to experiment with the traditional sushi form, and
they're using U.S.-grown rice to do it.
Enter the latest craze in pioneering sushi configurations: the sushi donut.
Shoji Mochizuki and Rosie Gordon opened Sushi-Zen in Arlington, Virginia, in 1997 with the mission of serving authentic sushi using premium ingredients. The sushi donut didn't debut until twenty years later, when their son Brian Mochizuki, now vice president of operations and general manager of Sushi-Zen, decided to explore some new adventurous options for the menu.
Mochizuki saw a version of sushi donuts being made in California on social media, was struck with inspiration, and realized that there were no restaurants in the DC area offering the unusual menu item. So he got to work, experimenting with ingredients, technique, and form until he developed a sushi donut that customers loved.
U.S. rice is an essential part of the sushi donut formula. Sushi-Zen exclusively uses Tamaki Gold short grain white rice and Lundberg Farms short grain organic brown rice, both grown in California.
"The most important ingredient when making sushi is the rice," Mochizuki says. "Tamaki Gold has the perfect stickiness for making sushi and is able to hold its flavor and texture over time. You can really tell if rice is good quality by how well it's able to keep its texture as it cools down after being mixed with rice vinegar. Some rice can become too sticky and is harder to handle when making sushi. But with Tamaki Gold, you can still feel the individual grains in your mouth when eating it."
Mochizuki adds that buying U.S.-grown ensures the freshness of the rice, which is crucial for good sushi. "Importers store rice for long periods of time before shipping it to the purchaser. By using U.S.-grown rice, we eliminate the time the rice spends traveling on a boat. When Tamaki Gold packages their rice for customers, they do it by order."
The sushi donut has been a popular addition to the Sushi-Zen menu. A rainbow of salmon, tuna, avocado, and roe, it's delicious and very social media friendly. But it can be a little intimidating if you don't know how to tackle it.
Mochizuki said that the best way to eat a sushi donut is just to eat it, well, like a donut. "When people order a sushi donut, their first reaction is 'wow, that looks amazing.' Their second reaction is 'how do I eat that?'" The dish is served atop a piece of nori that keeps the donut shape surprisingly sturdy as you eat it.
Mochizuki plans to continue trying new sushi shapes using U.S. rice as his medium. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwBWKbBZVNmltcxqzXtzxxfPBrM
Enter the latest craze in pioneering sushi configurations: the sushi donut.
Shoji Mochizuki and Rosie Gordon opened Sushi-Zen in Arlington, Virginia, in 1997 with the mission of serving authentic sushi using premium ingredients. The sushi donut didn't debut until twenty years later, when their son Brian Mochizuki, now vice president of operations and general manager of Sushi-Zen, decided to explore some new adventurous options for the menu.
Mochizuki saw a version of sushi donuts being made in California on social media, was struck with inspiration, and realized that there were no restaurants in the DC area offering the unusual menu item. So he got to work, experimenting with ingredients, technique, and form until he developed a sushi donut that customers loved.
U.S. rice is an essential part of the sushi donut formula. Sushi-Zen exclusively uses Tamaki Gold short grain white rice and Lundberg Farms short grain organic brown rice, both grown in California.
"The most important ingredient when making sushi is the rice," Mochizuki says. "Tamaki Gold has the perfect stickiness for making sushi and is able to hold its flavor and texture over time. You can really tell if rice is good quality by how well it's able to keep its texture as it cools down after being mixed with rice vinegar. Some rice can become too sticky and is harder to handle when making sushi. But with Tamaki Gold, you can still feel the individual grains in your mouth when eating it."
Mochizuki adds that buying U.S.-grown ensures the freshness of the rice, which is crucial for good sushi. "Importers store rice for long periods of time before shipping it to the purchaser. By using U.S.-grown rice, we eliminate the time the rice spends traveling on a boat. When Tamaki Gold packages their rice for customers, they do it by order."
The sushi donut has been a popular addition to the Sushi-Zen menu. A rainbow of salmon, tuna, avocado, and roe, it's delicious and very social media friendly. But it can be a little intimidating if you don't know how to tackle it.
Mochizuki said that the best way to eat a sushi donut is just to eat it, well, like a donut. "When people order a sushi donut, their first reaction is 'wow, that looks amazing.' Their second reaction is 'how do I eat that?'" The dish is served atop a piece of nori that keeps the donut shape surprisingly sturdy as you eat it.
Mochizuki plans to continue trying new sushi shapes using U.S. rice as his medium. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwBWKbBZVNmltcxqzXtzxxfPBrM
Pakistan gets $1bn Chinese
market access for rice, sugar, yarn
March
22, 2019
ISLAMABAD: The Chinese government has finally
offered Pakistan market access for three commodities — rice, sugar and yarn —
worth $1 billion for the current calendar year, an official in the Commerce
Division confirmed to Dawn on Thursday.
The official said rice shipments to China have
already begun as part of the deal which was agreed during Prime Minister Imran
Khan’s four-day visit to Beijing and Shanghai in the first week of November
last year.
Under the agreement, exporters have been
allowed to ship 200,000 tonnes of rice and 300,000 tonnes of sugar — total
value of $300 million — to China in the ongoing calendar year.
Moreover, the agreement also includes
preferential market access for around $700m worth of yarn but it seems highly
unlikely that Pakistan will have adequate surplus quantity of yarn to export to
China as cotton production remains lacklustre.
The Chinese authorities were unwilling to
increase the total quantity of these items despite multiple requests, the
official added.
Another Commerce Division official said
exporters will only have nine months to avail the facility as it will expire by
Dec 31, adding that the government is working to get access for wheat and other
agriculture commodities as well.
Moreover, this agreement will also be extended
to calendar 2020. Pakistan’s exports to China are expected to reach $2.2bn in
the ongoing calendar year and $3.2bn in the next.
Breakthrough
in PCFTA
The official also said that a major breakthrough
is expected in the stalled negotiations between Beijing and Islamabad on the
second phase of Pak-China Free Trade Agreement (PCFTA) and the outcome will be
announced on April 2.
He said a delegation led by the secretary
commerce will leave for China later this month.
Sharing the progress made in PCFTA
negotiations, he informed that Islamabad will get market access for 301 tariff
lines, which will cover most of its exports and allow export of commodities
which are currently negligible.
The PCFTA covers nearly 7,000 tariff lines at
the eight-digit level of the HS code. Both sides reduced tariffs on almost 36
per cent of the tariff lines to zero during first three years of PCFTA’s
Phase-1.
Moreover, second phase was supposed to commence
from the sixth year of the agreement ie 2013, but was delayed as officials from
both countries failed to reach an agreement despite meeting for more than 11
times.
As per the initial agreement, at the end
PCFTA’s second phase, both sides were to reduce tariffs on 90pc of the tariff
lines to zero.
The negotiations on the Phase-II of PCFTA began
in 2011.
Arkansas Rice accepting applications for new scholarship
program
Posted
by: Terry Simmons
High
school juniors are eligible to apply for a new scholarship opportunity and win
up to $7,000 towards higher education. Arkansas Rice’s “Rice Reps” is a five
month program to help educate students about the rice industry while equipping
them to act as advocates in their communities and on social media.
From May
through September, Reps actively participate in a program designed to teach
them about rice farming and the importance of this crop at home and
abroad. They are also asked to attend four different, on-site experiences
during the program, to better understand the reach of rice in Arkansas.
The goal
of the Rice Reps program is to encourage interest in rice promotion and to
publicize the importance of the Arkansas rice industry to the state’s economy.
The program seeks to educate both male and female rising seniors
across the state of Arkansas with the tools and knowledge to advocate for the
Arkansas rice industry. This includes the benefits and
economic impact rice provides its native Arkansans and millions around the
world. Participants will also receive an inside look on the production of rice
during the growing season.
During
the program, Rice Reps will not only attend premier industry experiences,
but also seek other opportunities to learn and expand their knowledge
individually. At the conclusion of the program, Rice Reps are able to
submit a scholarship application showcasing their advocacy
activities. Scholarship winners will be awarded and recognized at a
final reception during Rice Month in September.
For more
information or to apply, visit the Arkansas
Rice Website
Arkansas Rice Federation, by W. Cade Bethea
Nigeria Eclipses Egypt As
Africa's Largest Rice Producer
By John Green
West
African nation Nigeria has overtaken North African counterpart Egypt as
Africa's largest producer of rice. During
an interview by The Nation (Nigeria), the Director-General of the Africa Rice
Center, Benin Republic, Dr Harold Roy-Macauley revealed Nigeria - Africa's
fastest growing economy 2019 - produces 4 million tonnes annually.Egypt's rice
production stood at 4.3 million tonnes yearly but is forecast to decline by 40
per cent reduction after the Egyptian government decided to limit cultivation
to preserve water resources.
Cited by The Arab Weekly, Egypt's rice
cultivation required about 1.8 billion metres of water in evaporation,
transpiration and irrigation every year.
Rice is an important field crop in Egypt,
serving as a staple food for more than 50 per cent of Egyptians and an export
commodity for the government.
Between 2015 and 2016, Egypt exported rice with
a revenue of $58 million.
However, last year, the government banned rice
exportation and moved to the importing of milled and paddy rice to increase the
supply of the commodity.
Local production of rice in Nigeria saved the
federal government $800 million in 2018, disclosed Bank of Agriculture (BoA).
President Muhammadu Buhari revealed earlier this year Nigeria does not import
rice.
Actually, the country is even exporting grains.
The stats offer a sigh of relief to the country's agriculture sector and eases
tension on food security.
However, Nigeria's population stands at 190
million, arguably Africa's largest, with a forecast 2.90 growth rate in 2019.
Africa produces an average of 14.6 million
tonnes of rough rice annually.
Roy-Macauley said with the increasing
population on the continent, revived efforts need to be put to ensure food
security.
Hunger won't keep Oserian children out of
school - The Exchange
Also, according to him, the African rice value
chain needs to be better integrated and be capable of competing with imported
rice in terms of quality.
Other top rice producers in Africa include
Madagascar whose estimated production level in 2017 was about 3.5 million
metric tons and Tanzania whose agriculture sector employs more than 75 per cent
of the local population.
Most African countries depend on agriculture to
boost their economy.
In the period 2017/2018 season, the world's top
five rice producers were China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Vietnam
respectively.
Navy Nabs Automobile Gas Bunkers, Rice Smugglers
In Akwa Ibom
-
Uyo – Not less than 12 crew members of a gang and a
ship were arrested by the Nigerian
Navy, Forward Operating Base in Ibaka, Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom
State over alleged illegal bunkering of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO).
In addition, six suspects were also arrested in
connection with the smuggling of 523 bags of 50kg contraband rice said to be
smuggled from the Republic of Cameroon, with three 40 horsepower outboard
engines, one pumping machine, one wooden boat and 52 empty plastic drums.At the
hand-over of the ship, suspects and other items to the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), and the Nigeria Customs Service in Ibaka on Wednesday, the
Commanding Officer, FOB, Captain Reginald Adoki affirmed that the Navy is
committed to ensuring that it works creditably to rid the area of illegal
maritime activities.
His words “This vessel, NV Sword Fish 5 along
with 12 crew members were arrested by the Nigerian Navy, Ibaka when our gunboat
was carrying out a patrol along the Calabar river. The vessel was arrested
while it was conducting illegal bunkering of substance we suspect to be
Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), diesel to another platform without due authorisation.
“At the time of arrest, we were able to confirm
that the vessel had no approval for the transfer of the product it was
conducting at the time and this violates extent regulations as regards movement
of petroleum products on Nigeria’s maritime environment.
“While conducting our normal patrol at about
20:40 hours last night along Mbo River, based on intelligence, we were able to
arrest a medium-sized boat that was loaded with 50kg bags of rice and 6
suspects. We want to reinstate the continued and unalloyed commitment of the
Navy to ensure that we do our work creditably to rid our area of operations of
illegal activities,” he stated.
Taking delivery of the 12 suspects and the ship
from the Nigerian
Navy, the Uyo Zonal Head of EFCC, Mr Abdukarim Chukkoh described the
action of the ship and crew members as economic sabotage, adding that the
commission is at the forefront of trying to tackle such crimes.
“The EFCC is a body that is created to
investigate cases of economic crime and we see this as economic crime. We can
assure you, we are going to take up this matter, to investigate and at the end
of our investigation, we are going to charge them to court so that they face
the court and the court will do justice. We are very happy with the cooperation
of the Nigerian Navy and this is to show that we all work together in trying to
achieve our goal,” he said.
The Controller, Eastern Marine Command, Nigeria
Customs Service (NCS), Port Harcourt, Elton Edorhe who spoke through his
representative, Assistant Controller, Ali Garko thanked the Nigerian Navy for
the synergy, saying the suspects would be duly prosecuted.
‘I am quite happy that the Navy has been giving
us tremendous support in the performance of our duty. We will not relent in
taking charge of what is our responsibility. We have 523 bags of rice and 6
suspects, and as the law permits, we will investigate the issue, prosecute the
suspects and these items will be confiscated to the Federal Government”. He said
But the Captain of the seized ship, Capt. Bakpa
Yerinmene denied the involvement of his ship and crew in illegal bunkering,
saying that they were performing their legitimate duty when they were arrested
by the Nigerian Navy on 9th November 2018.
“I was sent to do official work by Addax
Petroleum Nigeria Limited, an oil company. Addax Petroleum as a company has
XPXO at Calabar offshore. This boat is an anchor handling vessel, platform
support, moring support, that is the work assistance the vessel provides for
the company, being hired by Addax Petroleum. The vessel belongs to Verta Mega
Services.
“We were on the field standing by, doing our
work, as we were officially sent to go to one of their batch called Agbani
Production platform. We went there on 9th November 2018 to go and provide this
service, and when we arrived there, we alongside the batch connected the hose
as instructed by the Addax Marine Superintendent that we transfer 20 tonnes of
AGO.
“A Navy security boat even escorted us halfway,
five miles to the platform. We connected the hose as usual, waiting for
instruction from the batch boat but suddenly, we saw another smaller navy
patrol boat and two of them came to the wheelers”. He said
Mr Jerry Julius, one of the suspected rice
smugglers from Ilaje Ese-odo Local Government area in Ondo state said he has
lost a lot of money in the business and was sorry for getting involved and
arrested for smuggling rice.
His words, “We are always based where there is
water because our business is based on water, and everybody is looking for
greener pasture. I am sorry that I was arrested because I didn’t know it will
end up this way.
“I have been in this business for about three
years now but I have never been arrested. I have lost a lot of money and I
don’t know how I will survive it. I know my business is smuggling but smuggling
cannot be eradicated quickly but it is a gradual process”.
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