During the Uruguay Round talks, Korea was granted tariff waiver status until 2004, which was extended by another 10 years after talks that year. In return, Korea is required to import a set amount of rice each year at a low tariff of 5 percent. The mandatory import quota has increased by 20,000 tons each year from 225,575 tons in 2005, and it will reach 408,700 tons in 2014, accounting for 12 percent of the country’s rice consumption.

By opening up its rice market sooner, Korea will not have to increase its mandatory import quota, lowering the cost of such purchases. According to the Korea Rural Economic Institute, opening up Korea’s rice market would result in cost savings of between W180 billion to W370 billion (US$1=W1,353) until 2019.

Furthermore, if the rice market opens up, experts predict that countries would be largely unwilling to export rice to Korea paying a tariff set at around 400 percent. That is because rice prices on the international market rose sharply last year, and imported rice would end up costing more than Korean rice when the tariffs are factored in. Experts say very few countries would be willing to export rice to Korea at those tariff rates, even if prices drop to half their present level. Japan and Taiwan opened up their rice markets while they were enjoying tariff waiver status, but did not see a rise in imports of the commodity.

It would be more advantageous for Korea to open up its rice market by levying high tariffs, rather than having its mandatory import quota rise continuously. The key lies in convincing farmers of the benefits of opening up our rice market by imposing tariffs and to minimize their fears. And that is what the government must do.