A survey of rice prices in 81 countries around the world carried out this month determined that the cheapest pound of rice is in Paraguay, where the price per kilogram is US$0.64, and while in the United States it is worth US$3.77 in the Dominican Republic is $1.61.
One kilogram is equivalent to 2.2 pounds, so calculating with an exchange rate of RD$54 for one dollar, the average price of a pound of rice in the Dominican Republic is worth RD$39.52 now in March, which is more expensive than in Paraguay. slightly more expensive than the average price of US$1.88 per kilogram in the 81 countries, but cheaper than how it is selling this month in the United States.
If the purchase price of US currency at RD$57 per one is taken as a reference, the price per pound of rice in the Dominican Republic would be RD$41.71.
If a kilo of cereal is worth US$3.77, the pound would cost RD$101. 79.
The prices correspond to a survey published on the 14th of this month by Global ProductPrices.com.
The countries in the sample where the most expensive cereal is sold is Serbia and Japan, since the prices they have are US$4.51 and US$41 per kilogram.
With prices above US$3 per kilo, in addition to the United States, Nigeria, Israel, Uruguay and Russia appear.
Above US$2 per kilo are Saudi Arabia, Latvia, Chile, Zambia, Switzerland, Malaysia, Slovakia, Sweden, Zazaztan, Bulgaria, Canada, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Hungary.
The countries with prices of less than a dollar for a kilo of long grain white rice are Singapore, Argentina, Egypt, Colombia, India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Paraguay.
main food
Rice is a cereal of great importance in the diet of many countries around the world, but in the case of the Dominican Republic, together with chicken it forms the main diet.
The cereal and seven other agricultural products remain protected from the tariff scheme known as the CBI or ICC (Initiative for the Caribbean Basin, and entered into the negotiation of the free trade agreement signed by the country with five Central American nations (Costa Rica , Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala), and the United States, known as DR-Cafta, which maintained protection for 25 years.
The eight agricultural products are protected by the Agriculture Agreement with the Technical Rectification followed in the DR-Cafta, which ends in 2025.
For next year, 2024, the import quota for rice will only be 11.8%, which means that the local market will be practically open to imports of cereal.
In 2031 there will no longer be tariffs for any import from the United States, since the agreement came into effect in 2006 for customs purposes, since that year was when El Salvador put it into force, as the first country of all the signatories .
Experts in agricultural matters have suggested that the Dominican government appeal to various instruments provided by the agreement itself to reduce pressure from the sector that employs thousands of people in the field.
In addition to measures that, although prohibited by the World Trade Organization (WTO), such as agricultural subsidies, advanced countries including the United States and Europe apply them.
final route
Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the signing of DR-Cafta. To date, according to the tariff clearance schedule, there are only 13 lines (agricultural products) pending to enter full free trade. Among these are chicken thighs in part or united, polished rice, husked, bleached, with shell will enter with 11.88% in the year 2024.