Chinese officials have announced that 32 U.S. rice facilities — including two in Acadia Parish — have been approved to potentially export milled rice to China.
In all, five facilities in Louisiana got the nod. The two in Acadia include Supreme Rice, LLC, in Crowley and Supreme Rice, LLC, in Mermentau.
The move comes after USA Rice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture pushed for China to approve the facilities after demonstrating their ability to adhere to the U.S.-China phytosanitary protocol.
The 2016 protocol put various rules and restrictions into place that required multiple inspections of U.S. rice facilities by both federal and Chinese inspectors before they could ship to China. China approved seven facilities initially two months ago ahead of trade talks with the United States, but now has approved the remaining 25 that applied and passed inspection by Chinese inspectors.
“All U.S. facilities that wish to export milled rice to China have been approved by the Chinese government,” USA Rice Chief Operating Officer Bob Cummings said. “The next hurdle to overcome is for China’s importers to receive the go-ahead from their government to actually make purchases.”
The remaining three facilities approved in Louisiana include:
• Prairie Ronde Rice in Ville Platte;
• Kennedy Rice Mill, LLC, in Mer Rouge; and
• Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District in Lake Charles.
China imports an estimated 5 million tons of rice every year, mostly from within the Asian continent, so opening up such a large market could be a major boon for local rice farms and mills. However, this approval is just the first step in the process. It allows the U.S. facilities to open negotiations with buyers in China, who then must get approval from the Chinese government to be able to do business with them.
According to Bobby Hanks, CEO of Supreme Rice, meeting the restrictions of the new protocol has been a long process. And while it hasn’t fully opened up a new market for Louisiana’s rice producers, it is one less hurdle they have to overcome.
Hanks credits the Trump administration’s negotiations with China as a major contributing factor in getting approval from the Chinese government.
“It’s a big step in the right direction. We still have a few more hurdles to overcome, but we’re getting there. Now it allows us to open negotiations with buyers in China,” Hanks said. “This protocol has been a delay tactic, but getting this done finally gives us the opportunity to access that market in the future.”
