The Foreign Trade Department will implement stringent measures to prevent low-quality rice from entering Thailand after Asean members launch liberalised trade early next year, a senior official said.

Director-general Chutima Bunyapraphasara said the department has sent officials to Tak and Sa Kaew provinces, two major cross-border trade areas for rice. The plan aims to educate concerned officials at the border about quality-inspection practices to ensure that only high-quality rice is imported.

"Thailand must comply with its commitment under the Asean Free Trade Agreement [Afta] to liberalise trade in goods, including rice, next year. However, the government will closely monitor imported rice from neighbouring countries to make sure the imports meet Thai standards," she said.

Under Afta, import tariffs on rice among members - with the exceptions of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines - will be eliminated early next year.

The government is drafting import-control measures focusing on sanitary standards, rules of origin, pesticide use and quality contamination. It is also taking steps to ensure GMO (genetically modified organism) crops are excluded.

The department is scheduled to complete the draft of stringent control measures on rice soon and will pass them on to the National Rice Policy committee for consideration, and ultimately the Cabinet for ratification.

Chutima said most private- and public-sector participants at six public hearings held by the Foreign Trade Department agreed that Thailand needed clear-cut measures to protect its rice industry.

Source: The Nation