The U.S. and China are in the "last phase" of completing an agreement that would allow exports of U.S. rice to China, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday.
The deal, 15 years in the making, would give U.S. rice producers access to the world's largest rice market. It would not guarantee sales.
The chairman of USA Rice, a trade group, said he expected the first shipments of U.S. rice could be on their way to China by late spring or early summer.
"We've been told by our government that it's a done deal," said Dow Brantley, a Lonoke County farmer who is chairman of the trade group representing producers, millers and exporters.
U.S. Department of Agriculture officials laid out the details of the agreement to USA Rice officials Thursday, Brantley said, and USA Rice announced the deal late Friday.
Brantley said Monday that he could not confirm that the so-called phytosanitary protocol for rice had yet been signed by representatives of the U.S. and Chinese governments.
A USDA spokesman said Monday there was still work to be done.
"USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service can confirm that we and China's Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine are in the last phase of finalizing this regulatory process," the spokesman said in an emailed statement. "However, an agreement has not yet been signed."
Greg Yielding, executive director of the Arkansas Rice Growers Association, said U.S. rice cannot be shipped to China until officials sign the protocol.
The agreement covers rice packaged for sale in grocery stores, not bulk shipments, Yielding said. He and other industry representatives in Arkansas said affluent Chinese consumers want to be able to buy high-quality U.S. rice in their stores.
None of the industry officials was prepared Monday to estimate how much U.S. rice the Chinese might purchase.
"China is the largest rice producer and consumer," said Bill Reed, vice president of corporate communications and public affairs for Riceland Foods, Inc. in Stuttgart. "Just a small percentage of the Chinese market would be big."
Keith Glover, president and chief executive officer of Producers Rice Mill, Inc. in Stuttgart, agreed, noting China has a population of 1.3 billion people.
"We wouldn't have to have much of that market to make a material difference for our industry here," Glover said.
Even though the protocol hasn't been signed, Arkansas rice mills are preparing to meet its standards, Yielding said.
Trade groups have already forwarded lists of Arkansas mills that wish to participate to USDA, Yielding said, so that they can be scheduled for inspection under the terms of the phytosanitary protocol.
Two Chinese demands extended the negotiations, Yielding said.
The first was that U.S. mills agree to lay out traps for the Khapra beetle and fumigate their rice packages when the insect is found, Yielding said. Mills also will have to keep records of what is found in the traps and make that information available to the Chinese, he said.
Producers said the beetle is rare in the U.S. and initially argued that putting out traps for it was unnecessary.
The second Chinese demand was for U.S. mills to use labels that list all of the varieties of rice contained in each of their packages, Yielding said. Some mills objected, noting that mixing of rice varieties is common in the United States.
Brantley said 30 varieties of long-grain rice are grown in Arkansas, further complicating the task for the state's mills. Under the final agreement, Brantley said, the labels will state that the packages "may contain" any of a list of varieties.
Business on 01/26/2016