The World Trade Organization initiated a preliminary safeguard investigation on rice as requested by the Philippines.
Initiated by the Agriculture Department, the WTO investigation started on Sept. 11 upon receipt of the document and the notification from the Philippines.
The Agriculture Department, the author of the document, urged interested parties to submit comments through its Policy Research Service.
A safeguard investigation seeks to determine whether increased imports of a product are causing, or are threatening to cause, serious injury to a domestic industry. The reasons for the filing preliminary safeguard investigation included the continued increase in rice imports that coincidentally occurred with the drop in farmgate prices of palay resulting in income loss for farmers.
The WTO started circulating the communication to members of the WTO Committee on Safeguards on Sept. 12.
