Sydney Morning Herald | October 27, 1999 | By CRAIG SKEHAN, Herald Correspondent in Bangkok
Thai authorities are struggling to protect billions of dollars worth of exports as countries with restrictions or bans on genetically modified crops start to reject Thai food products.
The trade impact is such that the Thai Government is considering a proposal to set up a special agricultural zone to produce, for export and local consumption, crops which have not been genetically modified.
In one case, Thai exporters have been forced to start using sunflower oil instead of soybean oil in cans of tuna because the European Union banned Thai tuna canned in oil made from imported genetically modified soybeans.
The stakes are high. Canned tuna exports alone earn Thailand $1.2 billion annually.
Lucrative exports of farm prawns to certain markets could also be jeopardised if it were established that genetically modified feedstocks were being used.
The recent rejection by Germany of flour sourced from a Thai agricultural project has added to political sensitivity.
Present laws are inadequate, and local debate on genetic modification is in danger of being overwhelmed by politically well-connected vested interests.
The Bangkok Post reported on Monday that genetically modified soybeans and corn had been imported into Thailand for the past five years in violation of quarantine laws, and the Thai Government has signalled it will move to approve such imports for human consumption and animal feed. There have already been protests on quarantine grounds in Australia over allowing imports of cooked Thai chicken meat. The widespread use of genetically modified feedstock in the Thai chicken industry could intensify demands for consumer labelling.
There are many examples of the failure of existing controls in Thailand. In 1997 the Government allowed the agricultural multinational Monsanto to grow genetically modified cotton in experimental trial plots.
However, production of the pest-resistant variety has been taken up by poor farmers across north-eastern Thailand through a black market in seed.
Environmentalists worry about the impact on ecosystems of such genetically modified plants, and one group of Thai farmers has called for a ban on the import of genetically modified seeds.
A petition to the Government warned: "Biotechnology will ruin our traditional farming activity, which has been handed down from generation to generation." Some local consumer groups have already adopted the term "Frankenstein foods" to describe genetic modification.
Others suggest that Thailand risks falling behind as a major world food producer, processor and exporter if it rejects the use and growing of genetically modified organisms.
Thailand is carefully watching the unfolding international debate over whether genetically modified crops pose a danger to the environment and human health.
