Did the Philippines set up technical barriers that made it difficult for Vietnamese rice?

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has just received a report of the Vietnam Trade Office in the Philippines on the fact that the Ministry of Agriculture of this country has published a draft Circular on "Food safety management measures for rice".

Mr. Nguyen Trung Kien, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association, said that the Philippines tightened the management of food safety for rice products co-ordinated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to work together. with the Government of the Philippines.

Philippines tightens the quality of imported rice

The Philippines is the largest rice importer in the world and the No. 1 market of Vietnamese rice exports. In 2019, the Philippines imported 2.9 million tons of rice, of which, imports from Vietnam reached 2,132 million tons, worth US $ 885 million, accounting for 73.44% of the country's total rice import volume.
In 2020, the Philippines is expected to import about 2.5 million tons.
In June 2020, the amount of rice exported to the Philippines was 87,828 thousand tons, reaching a turnover of US $ 42,768 million, compared to the same period in 2019, down 44.62% in volume and 34.9% in turnover.
Accumulated 6 months, exports to the Philippines reached 1.376 million tons of rice, worth $ 634.26 million, over the same period increased 12.89% in volume and 30.06% in turnover.

Mr. Tran Tuan Kiet, Deputy General Director of Dung Nam Import Export Service Trading Co., Ltd, said that the Philippines is the leading export market of Vietnamese rice, and although Filipino consumers are very fond of Vietnamese rice, when The country has erected a food safety barrier that will be a major obstacle for exporters.

These standards are almost the same as those previously set by China for Vietnamese rice, and as such, it is difficult for Vietnamese enterprises to continue exporting stable rice to the Philippines in large quantities. like nowadays.

“Based on the food safety standards in the Philippines circular sent to Vietnam, it shows that the country is tightening on the quality of imported rice. With the provisions of the circular, only large enterprises can survive, and small and medium enterprises will be difficult to adapt.

In early 2020, the Philippines intended to send the delegation to Vietnam to reality check on food safety issues at the rice enterprises' factories, but due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, this plan was halted. when the disease is stable, they will send delegations to. It is possible that the Philippines will learn from China to only grant rice export licenses to businesses with processing plants that fully meet their food safety standards, ”Kiet said.

Hit the pocket of Philippine consumers

According to an expert in rice market analysis, the Philippinese government erecting technical barrier with imported rice quality sounds like protecting the interests of Philippinese consumers. However, in principle, Vietnamese rice before export is assessed by independent inspection agencies for all food safety standards, because all these issues are in the contract content signed between rice importer and exporter. The choice of an independent auditor is subject to agreement between the buyer and seller.

Being in ASEAN but Malaysia and Indonesia - the two major rice import markets do not set any food safety standards for rice imported into their countries, but the Philippines has set up technical barriers for rice. Accidentally causing difficulties for Vietnamese businesses.

It is also not excluded that the Government of the Philippines wants to erect barriers to restrict the volume of imported rice to protect domestic production. However, in fact, domestic production is not enough for domestic consumption and the price of rice made by Philppinese farmers is much higher than the price of rice imported from Vietnam.

According to the above-mentioned expert, currently the Philippines is very short of rice. .
Besides, Vietnamese rice is very popular with Filipino consumers and is very competitive, the fact that the Philippine Government erected technical barriers inadvertently caused the cost of importing rice and Philippine consumers to bear.
“If the Philippines tightens food safety standards for rice, all rice exporting countries in the Philippines will be affected because there must be a series of additional costs that increase retail prices.
For Vietnamese rice, exports to the Philippines are very competitive prices if increasing costs, consumers can still accept. The Philippine government's setting up barriers to imported rice is hitting the pockets of their own people, and will greatly affect the amount of Vietnamese rice exported here”, the expert said.