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As worry continues over neighbouring Venezuela’s stated intentions to claim part of Guyana’s waters, a major rice trade pact between the two appears not affected.Despite tensions over recent claims by Venezuela on this country’s waters, an oil-for-rice deal appears not to be affected.Just a few days ago, officials of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) were among a team that returned from Venezuela after discussions with their counterparts there.During the meetings, there appeared to be no hint or indications that the rice deal was under any kind of threat.Rather the emphasis was placed on speeding up the shipment, an official from the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday.Following the announcement by US-owned ExxonMobil that it has found significant quantities of oil in offshore concessions of Guyana, Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, last month issued a decree including a map which showed this country’s waters as belonging to them.As a matter of fact, a vessel is currently being loaded with almost 6,000 Mt of paddy at a city wharf.Under this year’s agreement, some 120,000 metric tonnes (Mt) of paddy along with 84,000 Mt of white rice have to be supplied to Venezuela. The deal is worth around US$113M.Following a fall in world prices in the last couple of years, oil rich Venezuela, one of the biggest producers in the world, had seen shortages of critical items, including food, toilet paper, detergent and even medicines.Venezuela is not likely to back down anytime soon from the rice deal not only because of the shipping proximity of Guyana, but because this country owes it tens of millions of US dollars for oil taken under the PetroCaribe deal which is offered to a number of participating countries within Latin America and the Caribbean.Guyana itself badly needs the deal because it has been producing at record levels in recent years because of good yields. Last year alone, the industry recorded 630,000 tonnes of rice, it highest ever.Venezuela has been relatively stable market since 2010.The rice pact was initiated in 2010 between Guyana and the late Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chávez. The agreement aimed to strengthen food security in both countries.In 2011, Guyana signed a US$54 million agreement with Venezuela to supply 50,000 metric tonnes of paddy at US$520 per metric tonne, and 20,000 metric tonnes of white rice at US$800 per metric tonne.In 2013, Venezuela agreed to take 140,000 tonnes of paddy this year and a further 70,000 tonnes of white rice.The previous administration has been eyeing producing one million tonnes of paddy this year.The Agri Ministry has been targeting paddy production to hit the $50B mark for farmers.Under the 2014 agreement,China Jerseys, Guyana exported 150,000 tonnes of paddy and 50,000 tonnes of white rice valuing US$114M to the Spanish-speaking state.In 2014, exports to Venezuela accounted for about 34 percent of the total production of rice in Guyana.