January 31, 2007

Thai shrimp exporters scramble to comply with new shrimp standards

Thai shrimp exporters would face new difficulties this year as more stringent non-tariff trade barriers are imposed from importing countries, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce said.

Thai exporters would have to monitor the standards set by the various countries and ensure their products are up to par, Aat Pisanwanich, director of the university's International Trade Studies Centre said. For example, Australia has its biosecurity laws for imports, and in the US the Aquaculture Certification Council has adopted its Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) programme.

Due to the strict standards, the Commerce Ministry said shrimp exports to Australia shrunk 26.8 per cent in volume and US$22.4 million in value last year.

The world's biggest retailer, US-based Wal-Mart last year signed up to the Aquaculture Certification Council's BAP programme, meaning that Thai exporters hoping to export to it would have to conform to their standards. Already, many processing plants in Thailand are scrambling to do so.

Aat said the more stringent measures would mean extra costs for exporters and make increasing export volume harder.

Still, despite various trade barriers, Thai shrimp exports to the US, one of Thailand's top three shrimp markets, grew 10.6 percent to US$551.3 million last year.

To be up to date on the latest standards, Thailand will be sending officials to Sweden to study details of its Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture. The system provides up-to-date information on all aspects of food supply and demand and warns of imminent food crises. Thailand would benefit from knowledge of the new export standards, officials said.