Thailand offers to sell 1-M T rice: Yap
Posted at 01/19/2010 6:08 PM | Updated as of 01/19/2010 6:08 PM
MANILA, Philippines - Thailand, the world's biggest rice exporter, has offered to sell up to 1 million tons of rice to the Philippines, the largest buyer, in a government-to-government arrangement, Manila's agriculture minister said on Tuesday.
Arthur Yap said the offer is on top of a Philippine proposal to buy only 370,000 tons tariff-free rice annually from Thailand in exchange for Manila's refusal to cut rice import duty fully under a regional trade agreement.
"That's what's on the table right now," Yap told reporters about Thailand's offer.