Officials from South Korea and Australia have made little progress in their negotiations to open up South Korea's rice market.
During the second round of rice talks in Canberra Monday, the two sides were only able to agree on holding further talks at a later date in an effort to form a mutually beneficial accord.
The two nations were sharply divided over whether to extend South Korea's right to keep rice imports under 4 percent of domestic consumption.
Seoul wants to maintain its current mandatory rice import quota, while nine rice-exporting countries, including Australia, the United States and China, are pressing South Korea to adopt a tariff system.
At the 1994 Uruguay Round of multilateral trade talks, South Korea was granted a ten-year grace period during which it was allowed to keep rice imports under four percent of domestic consumption.
According to agreements struck at those negotiations, South Korea must conclude talks on the wider opening of its rice market by the end of this year.