BANGKOK, Thailand – Cattle raisers have raised concerns over the potential impact of importing American beef on their livelihood and food security.
Narumon Pinyosinwat, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, has pledged to forward the proposal from the Beef Cattle Association of Thailand to Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, expressing confidence that the Prime Minister will listen to the concerns of farmers who fear the consequences of opening beef imports from the United States as part of trade balance negotiations. The Minister emphasized that the farmers’ suffering is also her concern.
Minister Narumon confirmed she will bring forward the proposal submitted by the Thai Beef Cattle Association, which represented 60 farmer groups nationwide, urging the government to reconsider plans to import beef and offal from the United States. The move follows an upcoming trade negotiation with the U.S., and farmers are deeply worried that allowing such imports would worsen the ongoing crisis caused by earlier duty-free imports of Australian beef, which led to widespread losses. Farmers also fear that this could affect national food security.
The Beef Cattle Association of Thailand reiterated that local cattle farmers have already been severely impacted by zero-tariff Australian beef following the Free Trade Agreement, and urged the government not to repeat the mistake by using cattle as a scapegoat in this upcoming negotiation. They described U.S. beef as substandard and warned that its import could devastate the local industry.
The association submitted a letter to the Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Commerce, stressing that the move would not only destroy the livelihoods of Thai cattle farmers but also undermine national food security. (NNT)
