Cabinet allows greater imports of potatoes, onions from Australia, New Zealand under trade pacts

[webfact]

Cabinet allows greater imports of potatoes, onions from Australia, New Zealand under trade pacts

By THE NATION

 

 

The Cabinet has approved regulations for the import of onions and potatoes as well as their seeds from Australia and New Zealand on a free-trade basis, Government Deputy Spokeswoman Ratchada Thanadirek said on Tuesday (January 14).

 

“In 2005, Thailand signed the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement [TAFTA] and the Thailand-New Zealand Closer Economic Partnership Agreement [TNZEP], which erected tariff barriers on certain agricultural produce in order to protect domestic products,” she said. “The agreements will, however, gradually lower the tariff and limits over the years until fully free trade conditions are achieved, meaning unlimited quantities of the products can be imported free of tariff.”

 

In 2020, onions and potatoes as well as their seeds from Australia and New Zealand will become free of import tariff under TAFTA and TNZEP, therefore the Cabinet has ordered the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to draw up regulations for importers of these produce, as follows:

 

➤ Importers of onions and potatoes as well as their seeds must be a juristic person registered as an importer of the respective produce with the Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce. The registration must be renewed annually.

 

➤ Importers must apply for certificate of import tax exemption under the free trade agreement.

 

➤ Importers must use those produce for their own manufacturing and processing. Resale and transfer of the produce is not allowed.

 

➤ The produce must be processed at Customs checkpoints that have plant, food and drug quarantine stations.

 

Ratchada further added that the Office of Agricultural Economics had studied the impact of free trade of these products and concluded that it should not pose negative effects on domestic farmers. “Furthermore, the Ministry of Agriculture has been urging local farmers to improve their product quality using new technologies through the smart farming initiative, which should help boost their competitiveness against imported products.”

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30380586

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-01-15

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[johng]

11 minutes ago, webfact said:

“The agreements will, however, gradually lower the tariff and limits over the years until fully free trade conditions are achieved, meaning unlimited quantities of the products can be imported free of tariff.”

Free of tariff  but the price never comes down because of a different tax imposed  as with wine and beer !

[canopus1969]

Good, we may be able to buy half decent spuds in the future

[bluesofa]

Just now, canopus1969 said:

Good, we may be able to buy half decent spuds in the future

Yeah, I was always a fan of MASH. Never missed an episode.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

31 minutes ago, webfact said:

Importers must use those produce for their own manufacturing and processing. Resale and transfer of the produce is not allowed.

 

Which appears to mean, at the retail level, the same lousy Thai potatoes will remain, and imports from Australia and NZ won't be available for direct sale to consumers...

 

What a great "free trade agreement" they've crafted.... 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

13 minutes ago, canopus1969 said:

Good, we may be able to buy half decent spuds in the future

 

Apparently you missed this little detail in the OP article?

 

Quote

 Importers must use those produce for their own manufacturing and processing. Resale and transfer of the produce is not allowed.

 

[worgeordie]

Yes, they will still be expensive, like the Chinese ones they

import now,importers must be making a good profit on them,

The imported veg from Australia,Turnips,Parsnips, etc, ridiculous

prices, example a large Savoy cabbage at a local supermarket,

only 600 THB.

regards worgeordie

 

[worgeordie]

37 minutes ago, webfact said:

Importers must use those produce for their own manufacturing and processing. Resale and transfer of the produce is not allowed

So its all for the benefit of the crisp makers,  Free trade.....yeh !

regards Worgeordie

[steven100]

The importation of vegetables under the Australia & NZ trade pact will be minimal as they will be far too expensive for local consumers and the purchases from farang will be so tiny that the importer will not bother as the fruit will rot before it is sold. 

[CNXexpat]

Onions and tomatos? I am waiting for a tax free import of cars, beer and other high taxed goods.

[bluesofa]

10 minutes ago, CNXexpat said:

Onions and tomatos? I am waiting for a tax free import of cars, beer and other high taxed goods.

I think the closet you might get is McLaren Senna pods or Corvettes courgettes.

I suppose they Mustang a bit low on the list of priorities.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

16 minutes ago, CNXexpat said:

Onions and tomatos? I am waiting for a tax free import of cars, beer and other high taxed goods.

 

You say tomato, I say potato.... 

[CNXexpat]

6 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

You say tomato, I say potato.... 

Right, stupid me. ????  But as a Thai would say: "same same - both are vegetable". ????

[bluesofa]

19 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

You say tomato, I say potato.... 

Let's call the whole thing off.

 

[DrTuner]

25 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

You say tomato, I say potato.... 

Wabbit food, same same. At least they shouldn't be loaded with pesticides like the Chinese stuff they sell here.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

20 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Let's call the whole thing off.

 

At least Bluesofa got it... unlike the rest of you mokes, apparently.....  

 

Let's Call The Whole Thing Off

Song by Fred Astaire

,,,

You like potato and I like potahto,
You like tomato and I like tomahto;
Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto!
Let's call the whole thing off!

 

Astaire is well before my time, generation wise... But the "potato, tomato" parlay is a classic....

Edited January 15, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Gecko123]

This is good news. Some of the potatoes sold here, presumably from China, are so hard I'm scared to buy them. Does anybody know why the potatoes here are as hard as rocks?

[johng]

2 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

why the potatoes here are as hard as rocks?

Because you haven't cooked them yet ?   I always choose the hard potatoes  the soft ones are or very nearly mouldy !

[DrTuner]

5 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

Does anybody know why the potatoes here are as hard as rocks?

Probably the type of potato. There's very little choice here. Back in northern farangland every larger shop would have at least six varieties, the farmers markets more than a dozen.

[Gecko123]

 

6 minutes ago, johng said:

Because you haven't cooked them yet ?   I always choose the hard potatoes  the soft ones are or very nearly mouldy !

Now that you mention it, they do soften up after I cook them.

 

What I meant to say is that the potatoes here are sometimes incredibly hard, much harder than the hardest raw potato I've ever found back home.

[unamazedloso]

So whats the dam point if i cant eat em? At least Aus can profit a little.

[Dumbastheycome]

2 hours ago, canopus1969 said:

Good, we may be able to buy half decent spuds in the future

Seems  not ! The imports are only for processing, not on-wards sales. :(

 

[legend49]

3 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Yes, they will still be expensive, like the Chinese ones they

import now,importers must be making a good profit on them,

The imported veg from Australia,Turnips,Parsnips, etc, ridiculous

prices, example a large Savoy cabbage at a local supermarket,

only 600 THB.

regards worgeordie

 

Agreed, one parsnip from OZ in Rimping supermarket today was 168 baht.

[natway09]

How about more quarantine chemical checks on the fruit & veg imported from China,

The garlic nearly glows in the dark

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

➤ Importers must use those produce for their own manufacturing and processing. Resale and transfer of the produce is not allowed

So supermarket prices will remain ridiculous!

[brianthainess]

7 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 Importers must use those produce for their own manufacturing and processing. Resale and transfer of the produce is not allowed.

So can only be made into Junk food how disappointing  ???? still stuck with the same <deleted> now then.

[brianthainess]

7 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Yeah, I was always a fan of MASH. Never missed an episode.

And i was a fan of Chips. Thought i'd LAY that on yer.

[brianthainess]

7 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Yeah, I was always a fan of MASH. Never missed an episode.

And i was a fan of Chips. Thought i'd LAY that on yer.

 

[GreasyFingers]

6 hours ago, DrTuner said:

Probably the type of potato. There's very little choice here. Back in northern farangland every larger shop would have at least six varieties, the farmers markets more than a dozen.

When I was growing them for home use there were about 40 varieties back home. Some of course were 'exotics' and not worth eating.

[DrTuner]

4 minutes ago, GreasyFingers said:

When I was growing them for home use there were about 40 varieties back home. Some of course were 'exotics' and not worth eating.

About 50 where I come from: https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luettelo_Suomen_perunalajikkeista . Some are seasonal. You can only dream of such here.

 

EDIT: there seems to even be an European organization for potatoes: https://www.europotato.org/

Edited January 15, 2020 by DrTuner