S. Korea`s rice reserve standards fall below FAO recommendations

SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's rice reserve falls below the minimum
limit set by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a government report
said Tuesday.
The findings by the agriculture ministry submitted to Rep. Kang Ki-kab ahead of
the parliamentary audit showed the national reserve standing at 13.7 percent, 3.3
percentage points below the 17.0 percent recommended by the United Nations
organization as of 2007.
"The diminishing numbers for rice that needs to be kept in case of emergency is a
clear reflection of the complacent stance the incumbent administration has toward
food security," said Kang, a lawmaker from the progressive Democratic Labor
party.
The reserve rate is determined by calculating overall annual consumption with the
total amount of rice left at the end of the year.
South Korea imports some rice from abroad as part of a 2004 deal with exporting
countries to retain its tariff waiver for 10 years, but it is largely
self-sufficient in the staple crop.
The country's reserve rate have been falling steadily over the years from 26.0
percent in 2002 to 18.0 percent in 2004 to just under 16 percent a year later.
The report added that reserve rates for neighboring countries like China and
Japan stood at 29.6 percent and 33.0 percent, respectively. Taiwan's reserve rate
was tallied at 24.0 percent in the cited period.