WTO agreement improves Australia’s access to Taiwan’s rice market

An historic agreement allowing Australia to export more than 18,000 metric tonnes of rice every year to Taiwan was announced today by the Minister for Trade, Warren Truss, and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Peter McGauran.

The agreement, brokered through the World Trade Organization (WTO), provides Australia’s ricegrowers with a new country-specific quota allowing long-term access to the important Taiwanese market.

This Country Specific Quota replaces the previous global quota for rice imports by the Taiwanese authorities, providing greater certainty for industry. Australian ricegrowers will also continue to be able to compete for imports under Taiwan’s global quota.

“The new quota for 18,634 metric tonnes of Australian rice each year is welcome news for an industry which has been hard hit by the drought and water restrictions,” Mr Truss said.

“I welcome the strong support of the Australian rice industry in achieving this breakthrough, which is the outcome of extensive negotiations conducted under the umbrella of the WTO.

“This is further evidence of Australia’s ability to achieve meaningful market access outcomes for our farmers through the WTO.”

Four countries - the United States, Thailand, Egypt and Australia - have been allocated a Country Specific Quota (CSQ) under Taiwan’s revised arrangements for the importation of rice, on which negotiations have been underway since late 2002.

“The key to obtaining an acceptable result for Australia was to negotiate a commercially viable quota,” Mr McGauran said. Australia now has CSQ access for rice to Taiwan, the Philippines and Korea – three of the largest markets for rice in the world.

Mr Truss said the timing of the first export shipment to Taiwan has not been decided at this stage, but will be the subject of further discussions between Government and industry.

“The important thing is that the access is there and it will be available on an annual basis. It will prove even more valuable as the industry recovers from drought and is able to increase production toward historical levels.

“The agreement further underlines the benefits of government and industry working together through the WTO to improve market access for Australia’s high quality agricultural products,” Mr Truss said.

Media Inquiries: Minister Truss' office 02 6277 7420 - Departmental Media Liaison 02 6261 1555