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18:20, 26-Jul-2017
Commerce Ministry: Two steps remain before US rice enters China
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US rice needs to complete two more legal steps to enter the Chinese market, following a recent protocol that would open up the market for the first time, according to a statement released by China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Wednesday.
During the first China-US Comprehensive Economic Dialogue last week, China agreed to an inspection and quarantine protocol to allow imports of US rice, the first step in accordance with Chinese law, the statement said.
US rice producers and processors, which want to export to China, are still required to register with the US government and then be recommended to China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), the statement noted.
To prevent introducing pests to China, the US also needs to conduct a fumigation process on rice that approved enterprises export to the country, and submit pesticides and techniques used in the process to Chinese experts for inspection and confirmation, the statement added.
"The three steps above are integral parts of the process. By now, only one step has been completed, so US rice trade with China cannot go ahead yet," a MOFCOM spokesperson said.
Completion of the three legal steps would give US farmers access to the world's largest consumer and importer of rice, after a decade of trade talks between the two countries.
China imported 3.56 million metric tons of rice in 2016 with an increase of 5.5 percent year on year, and spent over 1.6 billion US dollars on rice imports in the same year, up 7.7 percent from 2015, according to customs data released in February.
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