Bangkok: Gathering opinions from all sectors to urgently adjust the fragrant coconut supply chain system. The Minister of Commerce invited government agencies, the private sector, and farmer organizations to a meeting to discuss solutions to the low price of fragrant coconuts, urging a restructuring of the entire industry. Meanwhile, the Department of Business Development is investigating nominee businesses to create a fair pricing mechanism. The Minister emphasized that demand in foreign markets is starting to increase, and farm-gate prices will gradually rise within the next month.
According to Thai News Agency, Ms. Supajee Suthamphan, Minister of Commerce, chaired a meeting to discuss solutions to the low price of fragrant coconuts. Representatives from the Ratchaburi Provincial Industrial Council, the Ratchaburi Provincial Farmers’ Council, the Thai Fragrant Coconut Association, and over 15 coconut industry entrepreneurs were invited to the meeting to reflect the actual market situation and jointly determine structural solutions to address long-standing problems.
The low price of fragrant coconuts stems from several factors, including the large volume of produce entering the market, some of the produce not meeting market quality requirements, and limitations in purchasing capacity by sorting and processing plants.
At the same time, it was found that foreign investment groups or businesses acting as nominees were operating throughout the industry supply chain, from upstream to downstream. This resulted in changes to the structure of Thailand’s fragrant coconut business and affected market mechanisms.
The discussions focused on restructuring the entire fragrant coconut industry, with key approaches including managing production volume to match market demand, adjusting pricing structures appropriately, upgrading product quality to reduce import rejections, controlling processing to meet standards and be free from contaminants, increasing product value and expanding market opportunities both domestically and internationally, and developing products for the premium market.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Commerce will strengthen its oversight of businesses that engage in disguised business practices or the use of nominees by foreigners, in order to create transparency in the business system and build confidence with foreign trading partners.
Ms. Supajee emphasized that resolving the problems in the fragrant coconut industry requires cooperation from all sectors, as it involves the entire system of production, processing, and marketing. Therefore, integrated work from multiple agencies is necessary, and the approaches discussed can be applied to other Thai agricultural products in the future.
Mr. Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, Director-General of the Department of Business Development, stated that this meeting is a significant step in strengthening the Thai fragrant coconut industry from upstream to downstream. He also confirmed that the Department of Business Development will continue to work with relevant agencies to inspect and regulate businesses to ensure compliance with the law.
Anyone involved in assisting or supporting foreigners to conduct business in violation of the law will be guilty under the Foreign Business Act B.E. 2542 (1999). Offenders may face imprisonment of up to 3 years, a fine of 100,000-1,000,000 baht, or both. Furthermore, if they violate a court order, they may be fined 10,000-50,000 baht per day until the offense ceases.
The Director-General of the Department of Business Development also stated that, based on market factors and trends in overseas consumption, especially in the Chinese market which is about to enter a warmer season, it is expected that the price of fragrant coconuts will gradually improve within approximately one month.