NGO hits DA for double talk on rice importation

July 17, 2006

"We cannot help but see it as pure and simple, double talk. While the DA claims to be the champion of Quantitative Restrictions (QR) on rice importation in the WTO, it is also cheering the signing of the dumping of 69,000 MT of rice from the US under PL-480."

Jessica Reyes-Cantos, lead convenor of Rice Watch and Action Network (R1), a coalition of non-government organizations working to defend the livelihood of small rice farmers, issued this statement following the recent signing of the $20-million commodity loan from the United States.

"Equally appalling is the fact that the loan agreement was signed at the transgenic papaya greenhouse facility of UP Los Baños as most of the proceeds of the US’ highly-subsidized rice will end up financing their own genetic engineering agenda in the Philippines," added Cantos.

PL-480 allows the US government to finance the sale of its agricultural commodities to developing countries on concessional credit terms, such as extended credit periods and low interest rates.

Cantos said it is a classic example of dumping of heavily subsidized, surplus farm commodities from the US that will effectively wipe out the local rice farmers due to unfair competition.

"The US' highhanded negotiation strategy with the Philippines paid off despite the flak that the US got from other countries in the failed WTO negotiations in Geneva last month," said Cantos.

Cantos also criticized the agriculture department for contradicting the country's bid to protect the local rice industry against import surges in the WTO by allowing PL-480 as it would finance biotechnology research and commercialization in the Philippines.

R1 and other non-government organizations have criticized DA for promoting GM corn as the solution to the country’s perennial reliance on imported corn. The Philippines continues to import corn for its livestock and poultry industry despite the commercial cultivation of GM corn since 2003.

The transgenic papaya greenhouse facility in UP Los Baños will receive financial support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture PL 480 Program, the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCARRD), the UPLB, the Monsanto Fund, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Program II, and the International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications (ISAAA).

"The DA seems to be not getting its acts together, like a body with its two feet going to opposite directions," said Cantos.

Cantos asked the government to "come up with a coherent agriculture policy scheme that would promote genuine national interest in bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations."

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