Chicken prices may not go through the roof if govt panel decision gets nod
A government committee in charge of controlling prices of goods and services agreed on Wednesday to add chicken to the list of controlled goods to prevent its price from being inflated.
Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said the Central Committee on the Prices of Goods and Services reached the decision during its meeting.
The committee will issue a regulation for farms raising 100,000 chickens or more and for slaughterhouses that kill at least 4,000 chicken a day, Jurin said.
The farms and slaughterhouses will be required to report to the authorities the number of chickens in stock and their cost every month so that officials will calculate controlled prices accordingly, Jurin said.
He said the committee would also require 55 factories that produce chicken feed to report their production costs, prices and stock to the authorities every month.
He said the committee’s decision needs to be approved by the Cabinet before it takes effect.
Jurin added that he would submit the committee’s decision for Cabinet consideration next week.
With the retail price of pork rising to almost Bt300 per kg, the Commerce Ministry has sought cooperation from farmers and major retailers not to raise prices further. Following two meetings between the ministry and farmers and retailers, chicken is priced at 60-75 baht per kg at three superstores – Big C, Makro and Lotus’s.
