brand logo

Trade Ministry U-turn on rice imports 

30 Jun 2021

  • Ministry Secretary says price control plan was temporary

  • Bids called for imports

By Imsha Iqbal    Contrary to its earlier statements of abandoning the plan to import rice and introducing price controls instead, the Ministry of Trade told The Morning Business yesterday (29) that the import option remains on the table, and the Ministry is hoping to go ahead with it, as earlier planned.  Ministry of Trade Secretary J. M. Bhadranie Jayawardhana said: “We called on bids for rice imports,” implying that the plan to import 100,000 MT of rice will be implemented, as the Ministry has gone a step further in this regard by inviting bids. Further explaining the matter, Jayawardana said that the decision to cancel the rice imports was, in fact, a temporary decision. It appears this temporary decision lasted only a couple of days, as it has been less than a week since The Morning Business was informed of the cancellation of plans to import rice. The Trade Ministry Secretary stated last Wednesday (23) that the Ministry of Trade had proposed a strategy to implement price controls on locally produced rice while halting importation, following discussions with the relevant authorities, with the aim of protecting the livelihoods of local farmers since enough paddy has been stored. In addition, she said the cancellation of imports was decided upon due to concerns over the possibilities of this move causing a foreign exchange (forex) crisis in the country with the prevailing situation. Last Tuesday (22), Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said that rice would be imported and sold to consumers at a concessionary rate, as a means of decreasing the soaring price of rice in the local market, and in order to break the monopoly driven by local rice mill owners. Cabinet Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said on the same day (22): “This is not something we are doing with much willingness, but we thought to import 100,000 MT of Samba rice as a measure to ease the pressure on the people.” However, this move was opposed by the United Rice Producers’ Association (URPA), which claimed that small and medium scale rice mill owners would be affected, and thereby the middle and low income earning groups would also face difficulties.  The official website of the Sri Lanka State Trading Corporation (STC) under the Trade Ministry has invited bids to import rice through a tender notification, named “Tender for Supply and Delivery of 100,000 Metric Tons of Rice”, and the tender has been dated 25 June, two days after the Trade Ministry’s statement to the contrary. The tender notes that the bidding has been called for by the Standing Cabinet-appointed Procurement Committee Chairman on behalf of the Ministry of Trade, as it has been authorised by Cabinet.  The bidding has been arranged to take place under an international competitive bidding process. All bids are accompanied by a bid security, which is to be issued either from a bank operating in Sri Lanka approved by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL), or a bank based in the country concerned that is backed by a bank operating in Sri Lanka and approved by the CBSL. Accordingly, long grain parboiled rice, intermediate grain parboiled rice, and short grain parboiled rice are noted as eligible for supply and delivery.


More News..