Govt denies coconut imports up

A man dehusks coconuts in Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Thap Sakae district. Coconut planters in the province have called on the government to address the issue of falling coconut prices. (Photo by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd)

The Department of Foreign Trade has rejected criticism by coconut planters who attribute tumbling coconut prices to an influx of imported nuts, saying records show imports are down this year.

A network of coconut farmers in Prachuap Khiri Khan recently urged the government to address the problem of falling coconut prices. They blamed imports of the nuts for the price drop.

Planters in other provinces have also complained along the same lines.

DFT director-general Adul Chotinisakorn said on Tuesday the farmers were under a misapprehension.

In fact, the country had imported 195,303 tonnes of coconuts from January to August, down 27.03% from 268,672 tonnes recorded in the same period last year.

However, it was possible that some coconuts sold in the market had been smuggled into the country. The Customs Department had been asked as long ago as May to step up measures to prevent this.

It was important to protect domestic coconut growers, Mr Adul said.

He also said calls by the farmers to stall imports of coconuts, frozen coconut meat and coconut milk may conflict with World Trade Organisation agreements.

Other non-tariff barrier approaches could be used instead, he said.