Thailand To Get 1816 MT Duty Free Canned Tuna Quota For EU ff

The European Union (EU) has agreed to compensate Thailand for economic losses consequent to the impact of the EU enlargement on Thai exports.

Apiradi Tantraporn, Director-General of the Trade Negotiations Department, said an exchange of letters agreeing to the compensatory measures was conducted through the Office of the European Commission’s Delegation to Thailand.

The European Union has agreed to compensate Thailand for market opportunities lost as a result of the EU enlargement on May 1st, 2004 when ten more countries joined the body to increase its membership to 25 nations.

Under a new agreement which will be effective “soon”, the EU will allow Thailand to export tuna-based products tax-free up to a total amount of 1,816 tons.

Beyond that, Thai tuna exports will be subject to 24 per cent import tariffs.

For processed fish products made from sardines, the EU has agreed to allocate 1,410 tons of tax-free imports for Thailand, while export outside that quota will be subject to 25 per cent import tariffs.

For rice, the EU is planning to allocate an overall tax-free import quota of 25,216 tons, of which Thailand will get a share of 1,200 tons.