Thailand may go to WTO over Malaysia’s prawn import ban

 Malaysia's temporary suspension of the imports of five species of Thai prawns came into effect on June 1.

Malaysia has suspended imports from Thailand of the brown tiger prawn, banana prawn, whiteleg shrimp, giant tiger prawn, and blue shrimp. (Envato Element pic)

BANGKOK:

Thailand is prepared to raise complaints at the World Trade Organization and Asean forums over Malaysia’s temporary suspension of imports of Thai prawns if bilateral negotiations fail to resolve the issue, a government spokesman said.

Ratchada Thanadirek said the commerce ministry had instructed its Kuala Lumpur office to closely monitor developments following the suspension which took effect on June 1.

Malaysia’s move was part of tighter controls on fisheries products from the kingdom. The affected species are Penaeus esculentus (brown tiger prawn), Fenneropenaeus merguiensis (banana prawn), Penaeus vannamei (whiteleg shrimp), Penaeus monodon (giant tiger prawn), and Penaeus stylirostris (blue shrimp).

Ratchada said the Thai government remains committed to resolving the matter through bilateral discussions. “Should the issue remain unresolved, Thailand is prepared to elevate the matter to the WTO and Asean platforms,” she said in a statement on Sunday.

The move comes as Thailand rolls out a series of measures to cushion the impact of the suspension on shrimp farmers and exporters.

Ratchada said Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul had expressed concern over the potential impact on shrimp farmers, particularly those in southern Thailand, and instructed relevant agencies to prevent a decline in farm-gate prices while securing alternative markets for affected producers.

To mitigate the impact, she said the commerce ministry has introduced 13 urgent measures aimed at absorbing about 400 tonnes of shrimp output per month, the equivalent to the average volume of Thai shrimp exports to Malaysia, at about 44 million baht (US$1.35 million) a month.

Ratchada said the measures include expanding exports to China through trade promotion events, online business-matching programmes, and participation in major international food exhibitions, while boosting domestic consumption. - FMT