A group of farmers and non-government organizations belonging to the East Asia Rice Working Group (EARWG) are seeking to exempt rice from increased market access in the regional and global trading system, claiming it is vital to the region’s food and livelihood security and rural development.
The Philippines and Indonesia are two leading members of the G33 –
group of developing countries actively pursuing the Special Products
(SSP) and Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) in the WTO negotiations.

"We urge the two countries to convince the other ASEAN member countries to designate rice as SP in the ASEAN trade negotiations and thus, accorded SSM, as well," the group said. They called on agriculture negotiators to consistently advocate for food and livelihood security and rural development in the ASEAN and
WTO negotiations.

A recent study conducted by EARWG in Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and China found the rice critical to the livelihood of the people in these countries. The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia are bearing the most because of increased importation of rice in recent years.
Rice is a very important agricultural commodity in most developing countries in Asia where 90 percent of the commodity is produced and consumed in the region. The NGOs said that exempting rice from further tariff reduction as prescribed in the SP mechanism of the WTO would help millions of rice farmers in the region who are unfairly competing with uncontrolled rice importation.

"We believe that the ASEAN members should unite and support the G33 and other alliances of developing and least developed countries under current circumstances when the SP/SSM proposals are being attacked articularly by developed countries. The SP mechanism will help safeguard agricultural food production systems, like the rice sector,from rapid liberalization," they said.

The US and the World Bank, on the other hand have actively campaigned against SP and SSM.

The groups called on the governments of Thailand and Malaysia in particular that have opposed the G33 SP/SSM proposals, "to live up to their moral responsibility to help in the growth and genuine development of their ASEAN neighbors so that they remain viable and important partners for economic, social and political cooperation." They said that supporting the G33 will be in the best interest of the Thai rice farmers who continue to suffer from poverty despite their competitive advantage over rice exports and Malaysia’s 296,000 farmers dependent on rice for their livelihood, with 116,000 farmers exclusively involved in the cultivation of rice paddy.

EARWG is composed of the Rice Watch and Action Network (R1), Philippines; Rakyak untuk Kedaulatan Pangan (KRKP), Indonesia;

Federasi Serikat Petani Indonesia (FSPI), Indonesia; ERA Consumer, Malaysia; Vredeseilanden Country Office Vietnam (VECO), Vietnam; Stichting Nederlandse Vrijwilligers (SNV), Vietnam; Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC);

Foundation of Reclaiming Rural Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Action (RRRAFA); Hametin Sustainibelidade Agrikultor Timor-Leste (HASATIL Sustainable Agriculture Network), Timor-Leste; Pesticide Eco-Alternatives Center (PEAC), China; CIDSE (International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity), Laos; NORMAI (Non-Profit Association for Rural Mobilization and Improvement), Laos; Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN-AP); Southeast Asian Council for Food Security and Fair Trade (SEACON); and,
Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE).