Private organisations such as the Federation of Thai Industries, the Non-Destructive Test Association and the Engineering Institute of Thailand will take part in setting up new industrial standards, said secretary-general Pairoj Sanyadechakul.

He said the institute planned to sign a memorandum of understanding in two months.

It will also appoint other institutes, such as the Management System Certification Institute, the Thai Textile Institute and the National Food Institute, to run certifying processes.

Demand for high standards from producers along with the globalisation of trade is growing very rapidly, he said, without government having approved more officials for the institute.

The institute has been increasing the number of new standards by 10-20 per cent per annum. With cooperation with the private sector it expects to boost this to 60-70 per cent this year.

It plans to launch another 200 voluntary standards and more than 30 new mandatory standards this year, a significant increase over last year's 130 and 14 respectively

Pairoj said it wanted to launch more than 300 voluntary standards next year.

"We try to launch as many standards as possible in order to boost industrial productivity and help exporters. That's why we are adapting our approach," Pairoj said

He said the interim government was paying more attention to industrial standards than past governments, having for example approved a fiscal budget of Bt599 million this year, a increase of more than 30 per cent from last year.

It also plans to spend Bt80 million on improving the productivity of local industries by releasing 50 more Thai community-product standards this year.

In addition, this government will establish a Thai National Standardisation Council that will bring all industrial standards together and reduce overlaps.

Meanwhile, the Thai Industrial Standards Institute will invest Bt824 million in 2007-9 in raising the standards for electrical appliances to the equivalent of the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (ROH), the European standard.

It aims to help Thai electrical-appliance producers sell their products in Europe and prevent an influx of low-quality products from China and Vietnam , he said.

He said ROH was expected to be launched in June.

"Standards are very necessary for Thailand's industries in terms of boosting competitiveness," he said.

Chalida

Ekvitthayavechnukul

The Nation