Bangkok Post
Wednesday July 04, 2007

APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

Thai farmers are uncertain whether they will be able to enjoy full benefits from Thailand's free trade pact with Japan due to stringent requirements on food safety, and have asked the state to help them meet these demands. Agriculture and fisheries are two of the nine areas of co-operation covered under the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership (JTEPA) agreement signed on April 3.

Even though the agriculture sector has gained a trade surplus, with exports valued at 94.3 billion baht and imports at only 7.1 billion baht, overall, Thailand still has a trade deficit with Japan. In 2006, Thailand's total exports to Japan were worth 629 billion baht, but imports amounted to 978 billion baht.

Although state agencies have tried to convince farmers that they would benefit from the free trade pact, farmers are afraid that the cutting of tariffs to zero percent for fresh vegetables, fruits and fishery products might not secure them access to the Japanese market in general.

Dolyakit Wongnaknoi, a farmer from Nonthaburi province who plants green roselle for export to Japan, said Japan has set a very high standard for food safety. Previously, the acceptable level of chemical contamination was set at 0.1 %, but now this has been tightened to 0.01%, which has become a serious problem.

''Now, our exports to Japan have been suspended for two months due to the level of chemical contamination being above the acceptable standard. They have upped the food safety standard since the trade pact's signing,'' he told a seminar on what farmers can expect from JTEPA.

Speaking at the same forum organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to commemorate 120 years of Thai-Japanese diplomatic relations, an asparagus farmer called for help from state agencies.

Wichai Chaisuriyasak, who grows asparagus in Nakhon Pathom province, said farmers needed help to reach the safety standards required by Japan.

''We need them to check our soil and water quality whether it is good enough for plantation. We might be in trouble if our source of production does not meet the standard,'' he said.

''Currently, we can't compete, as far as prices are concerned, with the neighbouring countries, but we should try to at least make a difference in terms of quality and food safety,'' he said.

Junichi Keida, the project manager of Taniyama Siam, expressed his belief that JTEPA will be a faster track to solve many existing problems, including the problem of chemical contamination.

Farmers should work harder and learn more about ways to improve and increase productivity with a low investment cost, he said. Noting this was a challenge for farmers, and pointed out that Thailand was the number one asparagus exporter to Japan with 4,000 tons a year.

Kanok Khatikarn, secretary-general of the Office of Agricultural Economics, said Thai farmers are now facing a new challenge. ''They must follow good agricultural practices to survive the strong global trade competition.''

As a result of free trade agreements signed with China, New Zealand and Australia, Thai farmers face the problem of price dumping of vegetables, fruit, meat and dairy products due to the zero percent tariff exporters from these countries enjoy.

The government has set up a 300 million baht fund to subsidise farmers affected by the free trade pact.