The Commerce Ministry plans to sell rice directly to foreign importers and state-owned enterprises to accelerate the release of its huge stocks and earn more income.

The ministry's efforts to unload rice via normal auctions have been disappointing, as three auctions this year were only able to sell 240,000 tonnes from a total amount of 750,000 tonnes up for bid.

Commerce Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan said some changes in the methods his ministry uses to sell off rice would be proposed to the National Rice Policy Committee on Monday.

Under the plan to sell rice directly to private or state-owned buyers, the prices should not be lower than those offered by local bidders. Buyers will need to have an export document to guarantee that the rice would be shipped overseas.

Many foreign traders from China and the Middle East have shown interest in purchasing rice from the Thai government.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Ministry yesterday immediately ordered an investigation into rice exports to the United States after the opposition alleged imports of Thai rice had been rejected because they were contaminated by inferior grades.

Niwattumrong said the ministry had not been informed of the return of any rice stocks. If such a thing has occurred, it should not be from the government's stockpiles, as Thailand has never traded rice to the US under a government-to-government contract.

Opposition MP Varong Dejkitvikrom said the US had returned 32 tonnes of rice after finding it to be substandard.

Niwattumrong said the ministry was investigating the allegation but added that Thailand had high standards on checking rice quality before trading.

If any Thai traders were found to be exporting low-quality rice overseas, they would be subject to serious punishment.

He added that claims about problems with Thai rice had a bad impact on the country.

People who make such allegations should carefully investigate to ensure factuality, as it is not only traders who suffer, but also farmers.

Chookiat Ophaswongse, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said it had received no information about Thai rice being returned.

Source: The Nation