Chicken exporters want the European Union to grant a special quota or lower the tax rate for Thailand as part of the EU's plan to change its poultry import policy next month.

They have made the request through government officials, led by the Commerce Ministry, who will soon travel to Geneva to negotiate for less onerous terms.

The EU has said it will raise the duty on poultry imports outside the quota to ¤102 (Bt4,914) per 100 kilograms, subject to negotiation. Thai suppliers are complaining the move would more than double the impost on their products.

The EU said the tariff hike was needed to protect its industry.

Thailand said the limitation on its chicken exports would put people out of work and deal a heavy blow to its feed meal industry.

Under the EU's revised quota system introduced early this month for cooked chicken, salted chicken and turkey, exports falling within the quotas will be taxed at the existing 10.9-per-cent rate, but shipments beyond the quotas will be taxed at a rate of 53 per cent.

Caretaker Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said yesterday that Thailand would try to make the EU understand the huge impact on its economy from the proposed quota restrictions.

"The EU's new system will not affect only the whole chain of our livestock industry but also other chicken exporting countries. We will try to minimise the problems," he said.

During his visit to France and Italy from September 17-23, Somkid will meet with some of the EU countries' ministers in Brussels to discuss the poultry tariff.

Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will discuss the issue with EU leaders when he participates in the Asia-Europe Meeting in Finland from September 9-11.

Apiradi Tantraporn, director-general of the ministry's Trade Negotiations Department, will also lead a negotiation team to Geneva to meet with the World Trade Organisation next Thursday.

The efforts aim to make the EU aware of how huge the impact will be on Thailand from its quota system.

Somkid strongly believes the campaign will produce a favourable outcome for the Kingdom's chicken exports, so the government has not considered any defensive measures in response to the EU's plan.

Adirek Sripratak, president and CEO of Charoen Pokphand Group, a major chicken exporter, said the new tariff regime would hit Thai cooked chicken the hardest as the EU is the Kingdom's second biggest export market, after Japan.

The EU market is the destination for 40 per cent of Thailand's overall chicken exports, while Japan takes more than 50 per cent.

Thailand's chicken exports to the EU were expected to grow by 25-30 per cent to 130,000 tonnes this year.

"Exporters are now praying for the EU to consider giving a higher quota for Thailand's exports, otherwise export volume may drop in the future," Adirek said.

Anan Sirimongkolkasem, president of the Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association, said negotiations might take a long time. Exporters hope the EU will give Thailand at least a special quota if it goes ahead with its new quota system.

Industry associations will also submit the results of their study on the matter to the EU to show how much Thailand stood to lose if the EU restricts chicken volumes, he said.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation