Thai Exporters Warned About Eu Regulations

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Thai exporters warned about EU regulations

BANGKOK: -- The government has warned exporters to be prepared for new European Union (EU) regulations requiring products with genetically modified (GM) ingredients to be accurately labelled.

Thai exports to the EU will be affected, if exporters do not carefully follow the EU regulations, a senior government GMO expert, Dr. Darunee Edwards, told TNA.

Since the EU regulation came into force in April, no Thai products have yet been rejected.

However, Thai exporters must be prepared, she warned.

Samples of the products should be sent for laboratories tests to check the percentage of GMO ingredients in their products before exporting them, Dr. Darunee said.

The Ministries of Public Health and Agriculture and Cooperatives’ labs could also provide this service to exporters, she said.

Dr. Darunee also voiced his concerns about products under the One Tambon,

One Product (OTOP) scheme because producers may not understand the EU’s requirements and export their products without the lab tests and GMO labels.

“Once a Thai product is rejected, it will destroy the whole country’s reputation. Therefore, the government should train them on the EU export regulations, which allow GM ingredients of each product of no more than 0.9 percent, in order to avoid any problems,” Dr. Darunee said.

--TNA 2004-11-30

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Related news:

Thailand denies request to ease import rules on chickens

BANGKOK: -- Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisang today denied that Thailand had requested that European countries willing to sell aircraft to Thailand eased their import regulations on Thai chicken and agricultural produce.

Mr. Chaturon said that the reports had arisen from a ‘misunderstanding’ of Thailand’s need to get rid of massive chicken stockpiles in the wake of the avian flu pandemic.

However, he stressed that the sale of Thai chicken products and the purchase of European aircraft were two completely separate issues.

The Ministry of Commerce is currently engaged in negotiations with Sweden and the European Union (EU) on the purchase of European jets, and has also entered into top-level talks with Russia on a counter trade scheme involving the exchange of Russian fighter jets for Thai frozen chickens.

Mr. Chaturon insisted that Thai chicken, pork and other agricultural products already meet European quality standards.

--TNA 2004-11-30