Amid poor export prospects, Thai exporters are being warned of looming strict trade standards on food safety, sanitation and the environment, notably from the US, the EU and Japan.
Pimchanok Vonkhorporn, deputy director–general of Trade Policy and Strategy Office under the Commerce Ministry, said stricter measures are likely to come, particularly from developed countries where consumers are highly aware of food safety, sanitation, social and environmental issues.
"Based on our observations, developed countries have intensified the use of non-tariff measures, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and other environment measures," she said.
"They have tried to make sure that their consumers take in as little chemical residue as possible and no insects, while regularly updating their lists of banned chemical residues," added Ms Pimchanok.
She said the EU has also added measures on animal welfare, noting that issues related to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) practices need to be addressed more quickly so as to prevent any future trade obstacles.
Citing a World Trade Organization report, she noted that in 2015, the US applied up to 153 technical barriers to trade (TBT) measures, up from 96 in the previous year, while the EU applied 77 TBT measures, down from 82. Japan used 36 TBT measures in 2015, up from 27 in 2014.
Ms Pimchanok said environmental measures, including hazardous air pollutant emissions and the greenhouse effect, now play a greater role in international trade.
Meanwhile, Pranita Kurdpikul, the Thai commercial counsellor in Chicago, also warned that Thai exporters should heed the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which requires that food producers and exporters enrol with the FDA's food facility registration unit and renew their registration every two years.
For products packaged in hermetically sealed containers such as low-acid canned foods, producers and exporters are also required to obtain Food Canning Establishment registration.
The FSMA, which is expected to be announced for enforcement later this year, also requires labels to identify three key points of information: nutrition, country of origin and ingredients.
"Once the FSMA comes into force, tightened inspection on imported foods is anticipated," she said. "Thai producers and exporters therefore need to heed this act and prepare themselves accordingly."
Ms Pranita said that apart from food safety, US consumers are increasingly concerned about child labour, forced labour and environmental issues.
Although Thailand was upgraded from Tier 3, the lowest ranking, to Tier 2 on the Trafficking in Persons watch list released in June, certain leading importers have yet to increase their imports from Thailand.
Tier 2 indicates the Thai government has made significant efforts to eliminate trafficking during the rating period, but has not fully met the minimum standards to eradicate trafficking.
Thailand's reported exports to the US increased marginally by 0.7% last year to $24.1 billion.