Thailand has yet to allow pork imports from the US (Source: National News Bureau of Thailand)Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’sMinistry of Commerce has announced that it needs to amend several regulationsbefore pork imports from the US are allowed.
The statement was made by Commerce MinisterApiradi Tantraporn in mid-October, according to the Thai media.
She affirmed that Thailand has not yet allowedpork imports from the US and refuted claims that the two countries’ leaders hadagreed on the move.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperativeshas been tasked with assembling a committee of public and privaterepresentatives as well as pig farmers to study the issue, she stated.
Apiradi also noted that although Thailandmust comply with the World Trade Organisation standards, it will not harmdomestic industries, producers or consumers.
Thailand bans imports of US pork and chickenfor fear of contamination with ractopamine, a feed additive widely used in theUS.
The US has been pushing harder for Thailand to open its market to imported porkand chicken after an almost six year ban.
However, since the beginning of September,Thai farmers have protested in front of the Government Office and the CommerceMinistry to oppose any concessions.
According to experts, the resumption of porkimports from the US may harm big companies like Charoen Pokphand Foods PublicCompany Limited and Thai Foods Group Public Company Limited and some 200,000farmers.
Thailand is estimated to raise about 18million pigs each year with total market price of 3.5 billion USD.-VNA
VNA
