Thailand's veggies exports to EU on the rise

BANGKOK, April 3 (TNA) - Rising Thai exports of vegetables to Europe are now foreseen, as the 27-member European Union (EU) has relaxed its examination on imported vegetables from Thailand. Srirat Rastapana, Permanent Secretary for Commerce, acknowledged on Thursday that Thai exports of vegetables to the European market now have a brighter prospect, as the EU has relieved its checks on cabbage imports from Thailand due to Bangkok's improved quality control before exports. Srirat told journalists that the EU has been gradually relieving its examination on Thai vegetables, with the examination on eggplants and beans reduced to 20 per cent of their imports, cabbage from 50 per cent to 10 per cent, resulting in, expectedly, increasing exports of Thai vegetables to the EU. Srirat, however, warned local packaging operators and exporters to seriously prevent contamination in vegetables, especially 22 of them which face strict export control, including basil, cumin, pepper, eggplant, bitter gourd, parsley, long bean, cabbage, kale, mint and celery. According to the senior official, exports of Thai vegetables to the high purchasing power EU shrank by 3.77 per cent in 2013 due to impacts from the strict examination although the EU, with its combined population of more than 500 million, was Thailand's third largest trading partner, after China and the United States. The value of trade between Thailand and the EU last year amounted to about 22.16 billion US dollars, a 1.99 per cent year-on-year.(TNA)