Thai feed meal producers oppose broken rice policy

 

 

Animal feed meal producers in Thailand have opposed the Cabinet's decision to allow duty-free imports of broken rice for the manufacturing of food products only.

 

This measure could lead to hikes in the prices of feed meal and meat, said the producers.

 

This follows after the Cabinet approved zero-tariff imports of broken rice under the Asean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), but only for the food manufacturing industry.

 

Pornsilp Patcharintanakul, president of the Thai Feed Meal Association, said the government should not limit the type of industrial use in this way.

 

The feed meal industry also needs broken rice as an ingredient for its own production, therefore the measure should also cover this type of business so that manufacturers could enjoy lower costs, he said.

 

Deputy Prime Minister Trairong Suwankhiri, who is chairman of the National Rice Policy Committee, said the restriction had been drawn up to protect against a flood of imported, low-priced broken rice. High imports from neighbouring countries would damage domestic rice prices, he said.

 

Pornsilip warned that feed meal prices might increase if manufacturing costs go up, and the costs would be shifted onto livestock farmers. This will cause higher meat production costs, which will in turn drive up meat prices, he said.

 

The cost of broken rice in Thailand is much higher than that in neighbouring countries. Thai broken rice is quoted at THB12 (US$0.36) a kg, while it is just THB6-THB7 (US$0.18-US$0.21) a kg in Burma.

 

Pornsilip said the feed meal industry would only import broken rice when necessary, as it entailed high management costs. Manufacturers would only bring in foreign rice if the domestic price were too high. The industry needs an average of one million tonnes of broken rice per year. Normally, it uses domestic supplies only.

 

Under the newly-approved import measure, Thailand will only allow broken-rice imports during two periods - May to July and August to October. Importers must declare a clear objective for bringing in each shipment from neighbouring countries, so that the government can ensure the imports are not combined with Thai rice grains.

 

Other rice import control measures focus on sanitary standards, rules of origin, pesticide use and quality contamination. The government is also taking steps to ensure GM crops are excluded.