Thailand may cancel soybean import quota in 2002

Lead: Bangkok news: Thailand may cancel its soybean import quota in 2002 and allow unrestricted imports of soybeans, compared with 1.5 million tons in 2001, a senior official of the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday The proposal to abolish the soybean import quota comes from the government's Committee to regulate soybean import However, if a decision is to be made to lift the restrictions on soybean imports, it will need the final approval of the cabinet The committee may be responding to requests from local industry associations These industry associations said that the number of soybean import quotas was limited and could not meet domestic demand Another official from the Ministry of Commerce said Thai government approved producers of feed meal, animal farms and soybean oil factories would be allowed to import unlimited quantities of soybeans, and could be exempted from tariffs within the minimum amount of access set by the world trade organization Other trading companies will allow soybeans to be imported at a tariff of 81.5% in 2002, compared with 84.5% this year In 2001, Thailand produced an estimated 331700 tons of soybeans, while domestic demand for soybeans is expected to exceed 1.7 million tons In order to protect local farmers from the impact of falling prices after the increase of soybean imports, the government usually requires soybean importers to purchase their own soybeans from local farmers at the price set by the government This year, Thailand imported about 1.4 million tons of soybeans (author:) share to feed Weibo share to: