EU and Thailand in sweetcorn spat

A brewing row over European commission proposals to renew anti-dumping duties on sweetcorn imports from Thailand is threatening relations between Brussels and Bangkok.

The commission set temporary duties on Thai tinned corn in December and is recommending that EU member states endorse a permanent duty ranging from 3 to 12.9 per cent, according to a commission spokesman.

Thailand, with a 60 million population heavily reliant on farming, exports around 40 per cent of its sweetcorn to the EU.

In an internal document seen by the Parliament.com, Bangkok argues that the permanent duty “will wipe Thai sweetcorn out of the EU market” and threaten the livelihoods of one million Thai sweetcorn farmers.

Bangkok is likely to take the case to the WTO should EU trade ministers, as expected, give the green light to the commission’s proposal at a key meeting next month.

That decision will be taken by majority voting - with, so far, only eight unnamed EU member states supporting the Thai position.

According to a Thai official, the eight EU member states are “the ones who traditionally call for freer markets”. 

The sweetcorn spat has created “an adverse atmosphere” between the commission and the Thai government, the official said.

But he added that this is unlikely to affect free trade negotiations launched this month between the EU and the 500 million-strong ASEAN regional group of which Thailand is a member.

According to commission figures, trade between the EU and ASEAN amounted to €116bn in 2005 and it is projected to increase by more than 20 per cent if a free trade agreement is agreed.

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