Off the mark
Mar 09, 2016
ARLINGTON, VA – As Japan’s fiscal year sets to close at the end of this month, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) will once again increase the amount of rice imported under the so-called ordinary minimum access tenders because of very poor performance under the Simultaneous-Buy-Sell, or SBS, System.
When Japan’s year began last April 1, MAFF allocated approximately 100,000 metric tons of rice to the SBS system. SBS is designed in theory to provide importers and foreign suppliers direct access to consumers versus rice imported under the ordinary minimum access tenders which initially end up in government warehouses.
Through eight tenders the SBS tenders awarded a mere 29,315 MT or 29 percent of the target. Of those tons, 19,909 MT were U.S. origin.
“Given how the SBS system has operated, I’m not terribly surprised it didn’t result in the projected imports,” said Michael Rue, a California producer and chairman of the USA Rice Asia Trade Policy Subcommittee. “While this in and of itself is of course disappointing, it’s concerning to think about how this may affect imports under the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership.”
Negotiated as part of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is modest additional access to Japan’s markets for U.S. rice. These additional tons are to be administered under a modified SBS system.
“SBS has not provided the consumer access we are supposed to have now. I’m concerned that a reformed SBS as we currently understand it will consistently provide additional tonnage as well,” Rue added.
Japan imports 682,200 MT of rice each Japan fiscal year (April-March), and the United States is the largest supplier with a traditional market share of just under 50 percent.