#TBT to 2014: it's been a long, long time
Oct 29, 2020
SACRAMENTO, CA – After six years without a formal convening, the U.S.-Korea rice technical meeting was held last night, virtually. The video conference marked the third and final virtual technical discussion planned for 2020 as a result of COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Following the signing of the U.S. country-specific quota for rice with Korea in December 2019, the industry established a channel to hold annual talks regarding technical and logistical issues impacting the flow of U.S. exports.
“While we were looking forward to traveling to Seoul earlier this year for in-person discussions with Korean officials and importers, this virtual platform for our meeting was a better alternative than not holding a meeting at all,” said Alex Balafoutis, chair of the U.S. delegation and executive vice president of Western Foods. “After several years without a technical meeting, we were pleased to be able to cover an assortment of questions arising following Korea’s new quota process and to review the state of the 2020 rice crop, and other USDA statistical figures.”
Korea has already contracted for 110,704 MT of the 132,304 MT country-specific quota for U.S. rice this year.