Thai jasmine-rice exports to the US are under threat by adulteration on the part of Chinese traders.

The Commerce Ministry said they had mixed second-grade Thai Pathum Thani rice with Chinese long-grain rice to sell domestically and export to the US and elsewhere packaged as Thai jasmine rice

but undercutting the genuine article.

"This illegal practice is misleading consumers and damaging the image of Thai rice," an official said.

In addition, leading Ameri-can supermarkets have been ordering Thai jasmine rice and packaging it under their own brands to reduce costs, thus limiting the exposure of the Thai brands.

Jasmine-rice from Vietnam is also directly competing for ethnic Vietnamese consumers in the US.

The official added that the

US Customs Department was now opening all containers of Thai quality rice for stringent inspection.

"They say they are looking

for illegal goods. This impedes our market access," the official said.

The ministry suggested Thai rice-exporters focus less on Asians in the US than the

educated, health-conscious

market.

Jasmine-rice exports will in future be labelled "Thai Hom Mali Rice" and carry nutrition information.

Different logos will be used

for different US states: "Angel" and "Horse" for California, "Elephant" for New York and "Butterfly" for Texas.

US rice imports totalled 413,731 tonnes worth US$206.8 million (Bt7.36 billion) during the first eight months of this year. Thailand sent 52.71 per cent or 227,321 tonnes worth $109 million, up 10.84 per cent by volume and 12.87 per cent by value over the same period last year.