The cabinet meeting on Tuesday 12, April has come to the following decision:
The cabinet approved the draft of the Ministry of Commerce’s announcement on the revocation of the 1998 export ban from the Kingdom of Thailand (ban on arms export to Sierra Leone. The draft has been sent to the draft scrutiny committee to approve and send it back to the cabinet to proceed to the next stage.
Synopsis of the Draft
The draft revokes the ban on export of items from the kingdom by the 1998 announce issue 84th (no.3).
The cabinet has approved the resolution of the Farmers Support Committee which held its 11th/2010 on December 27, 2011, which agreed to allocate 500,000,000 Baht fund from the Farmers Support Fund to the Cooperative Promotion Department without chraging interests but with the obligation to repay the debt within 5 years. The fund will be used to support projects for developments for groups of farmers. The cabinet also approved the disbursement of the fund to make up the 6,662,000 Baht shortfall in fund for expenses, as proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
There are 292 groups of farmers, or 25.64 of the total number of groups, receiving the fund between 300,001 to 500,000 Baht. Another 847 groups, or 74.63%, receive loans that are under 300,000 Baht. In total, there are 1,139 surveyed groups that have requested support from the fund, and the number of groups has increased because the loans from the previous scheme are insufficient. Nevertheless, the number of qualified groups has increased every year, from 1,179 in 2004 to 2,836 groups in 2009, which is an increase of 140.54%.
The cabinet has approved the Ministry of Finance-secured borrowing for the Market Organisation for Farmers and has assigned the Ministry of Finance to waive the fee for guaranteeing the debt. The Ministry of Finance and the Budget Bureau have also been assigned to determine the appropriate interest rate for the borrowing to increase the liquidity in rice procurement based on the 2010/2011 median price. The size of the loan has been set at 2.5 billion Baht, in accordance with appropriateness and necessities. The state will also compensate the loss resulted from the programme, with th Budget Bureau allocating budget to repay the debt and interests from the Fiscal Year 2012 Budget, as proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
The cabinet has acknowledged the adjustment to the price of ready-to-drink milk and soybean oil, as proposed by the Ministry of Commerce.
The Ministry of Commerce reported that it has been monitoring closely the prices of factors of production, such as, raw materials, fuel costs, wages, and Baht appreciation. The ministry has requested cooperation from the manufacturers to cap the price since late 2009, and the cooperation has concluded on March 31, 2011, as scheduled. As of now, the prices of imported and domestic raw materials have been on the upward trend. Thus, manufacturers have been requesting adjustment to retail prices as they have been affected by rising costs of factors of production. The sub-committee considering the adjustment to the retail prices has resolved to partially allow certain manufacturers to adjust their prices while certain in certain cases manufacturers have to bear the rising costs in order to help stabilise the rising costs of living of the people. The subcommittee has resolved to raise the prices of 2 goods, which are:
Ready-to-Drink Milk
The request for the adjustment to price wa made by 12 manufacturers who asked to raise retail prices for 110-5,000 CC milk by 0.25-24.25 Baht, or 2.00-55.56%. The adjestment has been the result of the rising expenses for producing milk, and the resolution to raise the price was made at the meeting on April 4, 2011. As for other costs, the manufacturers have been asked to bear the responsibility in the meantime so that the expenses of the people can be capped. The increase of retail price is set to 0.25-8.500 Baht per bottle/box/gallon, effectively on April 5, 2011.
Soybean Oil
The adjustment was requested by 4 manufacturers, who asked for the increase from 47 Baht per bottle to 63-102 Baht, or 36.96-121.74% as the price of soybean and other costs have been on the rise. The subcommittee considering the matter has resolved to increase the price of soybean oil from 46 Baht per litre to 55 Baht. The increase has been allowed on the basis that it is a partial increase (the retail that truly reflects the rising cost of soybean should be 59 Baht per litre). The increase would become effective on April 6, 2011. The increase would last until the end of June 2011, making the increase effective for a period of three months, the same time frame as that of palm oil increase, which was a resolution of the National Palm Oil Committee. The Department of Internal Trade would monitor the price of the soybean and palm oil closely and would review the retail in the future. The manufacturers have been asked to distribute their products within one week in order to supply the demand in the market.
The cabinet has agreed on the Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of intelligence on anti-narcotics in Asia Pacific between the Office of Attorney General of the Republic of Korea and the central anti-narcotics agency in ASEAN countries. The cabinet has authorise the Secretary General of The Office of the Narcotics Control Board to sign the MOU with the Director General of the Republic of Korea’s Office of Attorney General, as proposed by the Ministry of Justice.
--Cabinet Meeting (Abhisit Vejjajiva) April 12, 2011--