Gov't sets rice import tariffs at 513%

Published : Sept 17, 2014 - 20:23 Updated : Sept 17, 2014 - 21:25

South Korea plans to set its tariffs on rice imports at 513 percent, a ruling party official said Wednesday, as the country is scheduled to liberalize its rice market through tariffication starting next year.

"Through imposing a high tariff, the locally produced rice can gain enough price competitiveness," the Saenuri Party official told Yonhap News Agency, confirming the high tariff to be set.

South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will finalize the tariff rate in a meeting with ruling party lawmakers on Thursday.

A farmer looks at his rice field while appealing for high tarrifs on imported rice. (Yonhap)

South Korea's rice market is set to open effective Jan. 1. Industry watchers have said that a tariff rate hovering above 300 percent will have only a limited impact on the local agriculture industry, considering that South Korean rice produce is already two to three times pricier than those from China and the United States.

Along with the high tariff rate, the government is also set to roll out a handful of measures to protect the local agriculture industry, including banning retailers from mixing domestic and imported rice produce.

The Seoul government is required to notify the World Trade Organization (WTO) of the tariff rate before the end of the month.

South Korea has been allowed to delay its rice market liberalization under a 1993 agreement with the WTO in exchange for expanding the mandatory rice import quota, which reached 408,000 tons this year. The quota will be maintained even after the rice market opening. (Yonhap)