According to a report from the Bangkok Post, Thailand's cooked poultry shipments are likely to face some pressure. This would be the case if the EU happens to succeed in convincing the World Trade Organization to revise tariff quotas for processed poultry, industry executives warn.
Somkiat Triratpan, deputy director-general of the Trade Negotiations Department, said the European trading bloc had recently informed the WTO and its members that it wanted to modify tariff quotas for processed poultry. The request would possibly lead to an increase of import tariffs, but more details would be made available after the talks between Thailand and EU in September, he said.
The EU has used a quota system for chicken from Thailand since 2006 in an effort to protect its major international producers. Thailand had received a larger export quota allocation last year of 252,643 tonnes: 160,033 tonnes of processed chicken and 92,610 tonnes of salted poultry. Unfortunately, there was failure to exercise its quota for salted poultry due to the avian flu outbreak.
Presently under the quota, the tariff is 8% of the price per tonne. For chicken exported above the quota, the tariff is 53%.
