Trade representatives" discussed with the president of the Livestock Exporters and Importers Association to jointly find ways to export beef cattle to neighboring markets, helping Thai entrepreneurs solve the problems of low prices and red meat accelerators, and increasing consumer confidence with traceability standards. Mr. Chai Wachirong, Thai Trade Representative, chaired a discussion with Mrs. Nuanla-ong Sri Chumphon, President of the Thai Livestock and Livestock Products Exporters and Importers Association and her team to discuss guidelines for developing Thai beef exports. The main points are summarized as follows: Mr. Chai and Mrs. Nuan La-ong discussed the current problems of beef cattle exports, which include low prices, the sale of live cattle, and the use of red meat accelerators. The government has been continuously monitoring the situation of Thai beef cattle exports and seeking solutions to the problem through continuous meetings with entrepreneurs, farmers, dairy cattle, and related associat ions. The association president suggested ways to open the Thai beef cattle market to the CLMV countries, especially Malaysia and Vietnam. Malaysia has a good trend for cooperation with Thailand, and has promoted the Halal hub, but there are requirements on red meat accelerators, and India is the market leader in frozen beef in mainland Malaysia, so Thailand started by penetrating the Sabah market. Thailand has a plan to send live cattle from Thailand to Malaysia to fill the part that Malaysia needs to increase the number of red meat cattle to raise in the country by 30%. The Thai Livestock and Livestock Products Exporters and Importers Association has a plan to invest in a traceability system in the project "Thai cattle, safe, no accelerators" that can trace back the use of red meat accelerators and vaccines to make the consumer market confident that they will consume meat free of chemicals. The association will issue a certificate to entrepreneurs who have passed the inspection, which will allow for faster exports and save more costs than usual. In the Vietnamese market, this is a good opportunity for Thailand to enter the market because there is a demand for red meat, which is fresh meat. However, there is a problem that live cattle that are sent for sale do not get the price they should because the price is based on the world meat market price. Therefore, the Thai side is ready to negotiate with the private sector and slaughterhouses in Vietnam to create business matching to solve this problem. The association proposed a plan to submit a request for certification of confinement pens, similar to the certification of chicken slaughterhouses, and proposed that the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives help Thai farmers who raise beef cattle by issuing soft loans to provide farmers with capital to raise beef cattle and increase export volume according to the set target of distributing 10,000 beef cattle per month, allowing farmers to earn more income from the purchase price of at least 75 baht per kilogram of beef. At the end, Mr. Chai emphasized that what the government wants is to distribute more Thai beef cattle to foreign markets so that farmers can sell their beef cattle at a reasonable price and satisfy entrepreneurs. The government is ready to support them by providing sources of funding and increasing the opening of foreign markets. The government is trying to find potential markets, especially neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia, and is trying to match businesses and develop traceability to develop standards. The association is ready to work with Thai trade representatives to create a plan to increase trade channels and is ready to discuss further details. Source: Thai News Agency
