The government plans to sell 500,000 tonnes of rice, plus a further 400,000 tonnes of paddy (unmilled rice) from its stockpiles each month, Commerce Minister Niwatthumrong Boonsongpaisan has said.

 He said the ministry would next week announce bidding for people interested to buy the milled rice and paddy. The initial goal was to sell 500,000 tonnes of rice and 400,000 tonnes of paddy a month.

However, no conclusion has been reached about the sale of rice from government stockpiles in government-to-government deals, according to Niwatthumrong, who is also a deputy prime minister.

 He said that in the next week or two, he would travel to Iran and other countries as part of an attempt to expand the Thai rice market overseas. The government also would expedite delivery of rice to countries where orders have been made, he said.

Figures about rice sales and exports would be available later.

Niwatthumrong was speaking during yesterday's weekly TV show "Yingluck Government Meets the People".

Meanwhile, senior officials yesterday also assured the public that Thai rice was safe to eat, following media reports and rumours in social media of possible hazards.

Department of Agriculture director-general Dumrong Jirasutas asserted that Thai rice was free from any toxic chemical or contamination, as has been rumoured on social media. He said that the agency had reliable modern devices to test the rice. Samples from 40 brands of Thai rice were collected for the latest test conducted on Friday, and it found that none contained any harmful residue.

He said the chemicals used to fumigate warehouses were approved by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Trade Organisation. And they had been in use for more than 80 years.

Food and Drug Administration secretary-general Boonchai Somboonsuk said during the programme that tests on 107 of 160 rice samples collected by the agency found no harmful chemicals. Tests on the remaining samples would be completed this week, he added.

Source: The Nation