Thailand is continuing its efforts to win higher chicken import quotas from the European Union in 2010, but met opposition at a recent meeting with EU representatives.
Europe prefers using most-favored nation status to arrive at chicken quotas, while Thailand, along with Brazil, wants the quotas based on each country’s export statistics. About 40% of Thailand’s chicken exports currently go to Europe, according to the Thai newspaper The Nation.
A system based on most-favored nation status would unfairly advantage China and Chile, said a Thai Commerce Ministry official quoted in the newspaper.
The 2009 EU processed chicken quota for Thailand was 160,033 tonnes with a duty of 10.2%, which Thailand was close to reaching in the final weeks of the year, The Nation reported.
Thai government officials expect a new quota to be established by the end of March.
