Bangkok: The National Swine Raisers Association, in collaboration with representatives of swine farmers, has submitted a proposal to the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Finance, Commerce, and Agriculture to address the trade pressure from the United States. The proposal suggests importing corn and soybean meal from the US to be used as raw materials for animal feed, which would help reduce the trade surplus. They hope this move will encourage the United States to revert its import tax to the original rate.
According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Sitthipan Thanakiatphinyo, President of the National Swine Raisers Association, emphasized the necessity of importing more animal feed plants from the United States due to the rapid growth of Thailand's pig and livestock farming sector. The current domestic production of animal feed cannot meet the soaring demand. Essential products like corn, soybean meal, and DDGS (Distillers Dried Grains) are in high demand but are not produced in sufficient quantities locally.
The National Swine Raisers Association, alongside the Livestock and Aquaculture Federation, projects that these changes could boost the value of trade for the United States by approximately 84 billion baht, or 2.5 billion US dollars annually, through increased exports to Thailand.
The association has also urged the Prime Minister and key ministers to avoid considering the importation of pork products, including pork meat and offal, into Thailand. Such imports could exacerbate problems for Thai pig farmers and disrupt the supply chain, especially after the challenges posed by African Swine Fever (ASF) between 2020 and 2022 and the ongoing issue of severe smuggling of pork products since 2021.
Furthermore, the pork industry is a pivotal component of Thailand's main protein food industry, generating significant economic value. It supports agricultural crops, raw materials for animal feed, the animal feed industry, pig medicine, and various related businesses, contributing over 300 billion baht annually to the economy.