In response to the EU's strict, non-GMO import policies, the Commerce Ministry plans to aggressively promote Thai rice as a non-GMO product, Vichak Visetnoi, deputy director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said yesterday.

Vichak said overall rice exports should exceed 8 million tonnes next year. Included in that amount are exports to the EU, which he said should grow by 5-10 per cent to more than 250,000 tonnes.

"The EU's strict non-GMO agricultural import policies will help Thailand increase exports as our crop is 100 per cent free from genetic modification," said Vichak. According to the Export Promotion Department, Thai rice exports to the EU grew by 12.26 per cent to US$86.1 million (Bt3.2 billion) in the first nine months of the year.

However, exports to the US dropped 10.2 per cent to $102.9 million last year.

Vichak said a non-GMO rice promotion campaign would help the Kingdom gain market share from China as well as the US, as Chinese rice has also been blocked by the EU.

The EU is planning to send a team to Thailand to inspect local rice as part of its non-GMO policy.

The Agriculture Ministry yesterday joined with the Commerce Ministry to declare that Thai rice is completely GMO-free and that all Thai rice can be traced and certified as such.

Surapong Pransilapa, director-general of the Rice Department, said about 20,000 variations of Thai rice were recorded in the Gene Bank and the International Rice Research Institute.

"Rice is Thailand's major food and, in accordance with the national food-safety agenda, production of GMO-rice is prohibited in Thailand," he said, adding that Thai rice should be accepted by the EU, Japan and other markets.

The government also expects that following its non-GMO campaign, EU rice importers will require less certification of the non-GMO status of Thai rice.

Surapong said the cost of non-GMO certification was a constant fiscal burden for exporters.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation