Thai authority dismisses US fear over rice dumping

BANGKOK, October 20 (TNA) - Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom has insisted that the Thai government has no policy on dumping rice on the world market as feared by the United States. Defending the Thai government's rice-pledging scheme, Boon-song affirmed on Friday that the scheme has not breached the World Trade Organisation (WTO)'s rules. According to the commerce minister, the Thai government's rice-pledging scheme is aimed solely to assist local farmers by raising rice prices in order to boost their income. The Thai commerce minister's remarks were in response to recent concerns filed by the USA Rice Federation with the US Trade Representative that Thailand would eventually dump rice on the global market due to the rice-pledging scheme. (TNA)