Agriculture Ministry raises food safety standards

BANGKOK, April 14 (TNA) -- In an attempt to increase income of the agriculturists and food manufacturers, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Gen Chatchai Sarikulya said the ministry has prepared agricultural products and food safety strategies for them. Currently, the ministry issues certificates for Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) to the producers and related operators to make local and oversea consumers have full confidence in Thai agricultural products. In 2015, the Ministry issued certificates to 104,918 farms and 1,269 food processing factories, he said, adding that it also analysed 326,559 food samples, making exports of Thai agricultural products acceptable by the oversea markets. Because of the wide gaps in income earned by farmers and food operators at the present, farmers are still unable to receive full results of development for agricultural products, said Gen Chatchai. The ministry has, therefore, set up ‘Farmers Market’ in every province in late 2014 to enable agriculturists to sell their produce and reduce risks from exports, he added. (TNA)