With trading being liberalised among Asean countries next year, Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai is planning to propose that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva make rice-crop management part of the national agenda.
The move is aimed to stabilise growth and rebuild the Kingdom's competitiveness once the Asean free-trade agreement goes into effect next year.
Porntiva said the government needed to make the development of the rice industry part of the national agenda and cover issues such as planting, trading, marketing and stabilising price.
Under the Asean Free Trade Agreement, import tariff on rice will be cut to zero among Asean members from early next year. However, farmers could end up bearing the brunt of things with rising production costs, lower yields and low development in the industry.
The minister said the national agenda should include measures to stop rice from neighbouring countries from flooding the Thai markets.
Porntiva said Thailand should prepare for the free-trade agreement by complying with the open-market scheme as well as setting up clear-cut measures that prevent vast amounts of cheap goods from neighbouring flooding the Thai market.
Next month, the Foreign Trade Department will come up with concrete measures to control rice imports, including sanitary standards and stringent border controls.
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