Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit has expressed confidence Malaysia will lift its ban on Thai shrimp within the next month, but Malaysia is indicating otherwise.
"Good news for shrimp exporters. Suriya said Thai shrimps will be exported to Malaysia as usual within 30 days," the headline declared above a statement posted on his Facebook account on Wednesday.
The Thai minister made the bold statement after talks with Malaysian Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu in Malaysia.
Mr Suriya said the two countries agreed to expedite the inspection process for sanitary and phytosanitary compliance, including chemical residue and hygiene checks, needed to restore trade activities.
If the process proceeds as planned, inspections should be completed within 30 days, he said.
"My meeting [with the Malaysian minister] points towards the direction that Thailand will again export shrimps to Malaysia, as it used to do," Mr Suriya said
Malaysia’s temporary ban on Thai shrimp, effective since June 1, was attributed to new measures to strengthen standards for agricultural imports and exports. The move was also seen as retaliation to Thailand's ban on imports of Malaysian seabass over health concerns and the wellbeing of Thai consumers.
- Malaysia 'needs more time' -
Adnan Hussain, the Malaysian Fisheries Department director-general, on Saturday disputed the 30-day timing anticipated by the Thai minister. He said Malaysian authorities needed more time to verify the information about the inspection process presented by Thailand to convince Malaysia to reopen the shrimp market to Thai producers.
"The information is currently being assessed by the technical team. If the information provided is complete, we will require at least 30 days to evaluate every document and piece of information submitted," Bernama news service on Saturday quoted him as saying.
The aquaculture trade dispute is expected to be high on the agenda when Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul meets his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim during his visit to Malaysia on Thursday and Friday.
