Diseased cattle hurting trade

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

October 12, 1998 							
								
     								


LIVESTOCK

Diseased cattle hurting trade 
Minister in North on inspection mission

Supamart Kasem 
Mae Sot, Tak
Diseases brought across the border by smuggled cattle have caused Thailand
a loss of 20,000 million baht annually in revenue from export of livestock
and their products, the deputy agriculture and cooperatives minister said.
Somchai Sunthornwat was in this border town yesterday to inspect the
operations of eight animal checkpoints in Tak where a one-stop service has
been introduced.
Before 1995 over one million head of cattle were smuggled across the border
from Burma, Laos and Cambodia through 26 provinces, bringing with them foot
and mouth disease and anthrax.
The Livestock Development Department has failed to make the country free of
animal diseases due to the smuggling although a programme for this purpose
has been launched for over 10 years during which over 1,000 million baht
has been spent.
"Many countries want to import livestock from Thailand, but the
uncontrollable spread of foot and mouth disease caused them to change their
minds, causing the country to lose about 20,000 million baht annually in
revenue," Mr Somchai said.
Japan, in particular, wants to import Thai pigs on condition that they are
free of disease.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Food and Agriculture
Organisation want Thailand to be a centre for control of animal diseases in
Indochinese countries. Jica officials will come to Thailand next month to
see Thailand's disease control measures before deciding whether to give
financial assistance, Mr Somchai said.
As part of efforts to stop the spread of diseases across the border,
Thailand has set up eight animal checkpoints in Mae Sot, Mae Ramat, Tha
Song Yang, Umphang and Phop Phra districts where imported cattle are put in
quarantine and vaccinated. The checkpoints are also intended to stop the
practice of importers paying bribes to officials.
Samroeng Vorasoi, director of the department's Disease Control Division,
said that after the opening of the checkpoints in July 6,965 head of cattle
have been legally imported through the checkpoints and a total of 2.8
million baht in fees collected. During the same period last year only 283
head of cattle were lawfully imported and only 67,680 baht collected.
The department intends to impose disease control on all imported animals
and make the country free of foot and mouth disease by 2005, he said.
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© Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 1998
Last Modified: Mon, Oct 12, 1998
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