Democrats' rice-quality probe will lower price, Ministry complains

“The government’s stockpiles do vary in quality, since they come from different production areas because of the unlimited pledging during the past harvest seasons,” permanent secretary Yanyong Phuangrach acknowledged, but went on to stress: “The rice quality should not be critically low and lower-grade.”
The government already has a specialist team and hires surveyors to inspect rice quality. It is not the duty of a parliamentary committee or opposition party to prove rice quality, he said after calling an urgent news conference on the matter.
“The Democrat Party’s inspection will affect the rice price in the market as well as the bidding process and the government’s pledging scheme,” the permanent secretary complained. “It could damage traders’ confidence in the quality of the rice stored in the government’s warehouses and affect the price of Thai rice.”
Last weekend, the Democrat Party sent its own teams to check rice quality in the government’s warehouses in five provinces – Phichit, Nakhon Sawan, Saraburi, Angthong and Ayutthaya. It found that some rice grains had low quality, but Yanyong insisted it was irresponsible to use this to cast suspicion on the stockpile as a whole.
He struck back at Democrat MP Warong Dechgitvikrom, who represents Phitsanulok, saying the party lacks the authority under the Constitution and specialists to investigate the government’s rice.
He denied that the great majority of the government’s inventory was of inferior quality.
The Democrats’ inappropriate action will cause the price to drop in the market when the government plans to open bidding today, Yanyong said.
He also warned that agencies, warehouse owners, millers or farmers could have the right to sue unauthorised persons if they trespass on their warehouses and create problems for their operations.
If the opposition party wants to examine the government’s rice, it should ask for permission in writing from the commerce minister, he said.
The 753,000 tonnes of rice comes from the main crop. On the block are 499,000 tonnes of provincial fragrant rice, Pathum Thani rice and white broken rice, and about 210,000 tonnes of 5-per-cent white rice.
The remaining 44,100 tonnes is jasmine paddy rice, fragrant paddy rice, and 5-per-cent paddy white rice from old harvest seasons since 2005-08.
Today’s auction is open to every trader for domestic sales and exports, with the top five companies also participating, including Asia Golden Rice, CP Intertrade and Ponglarb.
The ministry’s Foreign Trade Department cannot announce the winners later in the day, as it has to bargain with the top bidders to ensure the highest price and minimum loss to the government, Yanyong said.