Thailand is 1 in 12 countries listed by EU for contamination in non-animal origin products

BANGKOK, 22 January 2010 (NNT) – The European Union has listed 12 countries of contamination risks in imported products. Thailand is included in the list with fifty percent of imported goods needed to be examined every three months at the Custom House.

Deputy Director of the National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards (ACFS) Vinaroj Sapsongsuk stated that EU had regulated on importation of non-animal origin products, to be investigated of toxin contamination such as aflatoxin, cadmium, lead and pesticides. There were 12 high risk countries listed by EU included Thailand. Mr Vinaroj said that every three months, 50% of three items imported from Thailand would be examined for contamination at the EU Custom House. They include legumes, eggplants, and cabbages in all forms. However, EU might remove Thailand from the list in case the problem was solved.

Mr Vinaroj added that this EU regulation was very important for Thai farmers to improve their production process, to strictly follow the Good Agricultural Practice Standard. Business operators also needed to take care on selecting products from reliable sources. To ensure the product quality, the operators could send their commodities to all approved laboratories, or the Agriculture Department’s lab for examination before exporting.