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We will sell no rice before it's time
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ARLINGTON, VA -- In a conference call with USA Rice staff yesterday, high ranking officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed that the phytosanitary protocol between the United States and China has not been finalized.
Over the past week there have been several media reports that the deal had been successfully concluded, including a USRPA press release that the deal would be signed in Washington, DC next week.
APHIS officials confirmed that these reports are not accurate, and that the protocol is actually now undergoing an interagency administrative, or regulatory, review in China.
Earlier this week, USRPA, who had representatives on yesterday's conference call, reported to members and the media that the signing would now take place in Beijing at the request of the Chinese. When asked if this was accurate, APHIS officials said, "it's speculation."
The brief call concluded with a commitment from APHIS to continue to stay in close contact with the industry to provide updates, and a commitment from USA Rice to continue its policy of supporting the work of APHIS, and waiting to receive actual confirmation of a finalized agreement.
USA Rice also continues to remind interested parties that once the protocol is agreed to, there will still be a great deal of work to be done on both sides of the Pacific before shipments of U.S.-grown rice are eligible to be exported to China.
