Global Rice News

The Thai Ambassador to the WTO, Pimchanok Vonkorpon Pitfield, will be replaced following controversial remarks about India’s rice procurement program. The remarks accused India’s program, which operates at Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the public distribution system, of prioritizing the export market over serving the people. India expressed strong disappointment and lodged a formal protest with the Thai government, as well as communicating their dissatisfaction to WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and other entities.

Following India’s protest, the Thai Ambassador will be returning to Thailand after the ongoing ministerial conference concludes and will be succeeded by the Thai foreign secretary. The language and behavior of the Thai ambassador were deemed inappropriate by Indian officials.

India clarified that the Ambassador’s facts were incorrect, as only around 40% of the paddy produce is procured by the government for food security commitments. The remaining quantity is exported at market prices. India is a major player in the rice export market, alongside Thailand. Some developed and developing nations have accused India’s public stockholding of commodities like rice of distorting global market prices.

India was the largest rice exporting country from 2018 to 2022, followed by Thailand and Vietnam. However, in 2023, India banned the export of broken and non-basmati white rice due to uncertainty around rice production and geopolitical scenarios. The ban aimed to stabilize domestic prices and ensure sufficient availability in the market. India’s rice exports accounted for 40.63% of the world’s total in 2022.

While Thailand is part of the Cairns group, a 19-nation group of agriculture exporters advocating for the free flow of agricultural commodities, India’s ban on rice exports highlights its focus on stabilizing its domestic market.

For more details, read the full article on Firstpost.

Source: Firstpost