The Philippines, the largest rice importer, is urging China, Japan and other Asian nations to attend an emergency meeting on the region's food crisis to try to reverse export curbs that have driven prices to a record.

"Free trade should be flowing," agriculture secretary Arthur Yap said yesterday. "We would like to take up the export bans being imposed by several countries." The meeting might be arranged within two months.

Prices for grain, including rice, have surged this year on concern of a global shortage, prompting some growers to impose export curbs.

"Governments are getting a little afraid of unrest. They certainly are talking about the problem," said David Cohen of Action Economics. "There's a lot of fear and greed out there."

The states to be invited to the summit included the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, plus India, South Korea, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Yap said.