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The head of the Thai Frozen Food Association said Saturday that he was confident that the US would review and may scrap its policy of collecting a continuous bond or a bank guarantee for Thai shrimps exported to the United States on the occasion of a visit next week by a powerful business Thai delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak.
The association's president, Poj Aramwattananont, said private sector representatives, especially shrimp exporters, would meet here Monday with Export Promotion Department officials to prepare information to be used in discussions with US officials by the Thai delegates accompanying Somkid, who is also Thailand's commerce minister, during the visit there from July 8-14.
Among the major issues to be raised at the upcoming meeting with the American officials is the required collection of a continuous bond or bank guarantee for Thai shrimp exports, considered as part of an anti-dumping (AD) tax for the shrimps, which has caused hardships to Thai exporters as it has increased their costs, Poj said.
Shrimp exporters to the US have already placed bank guarantees of more than US$150 million since last year.
The US government now acknowledges that the requirement of the bond collection affects its trading partners and the upcoming visit by the Thai delegation may persuade Washington to review the measure or scrap it altogether for Thai shrimp exporters, Poj said.
Imports of Thai shrimps to the world market, especially to the US, the European Union (EU), Japan and members countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), have risen both in terms of volume and value this year, he said.
But continued high oil prices, high interest rates and currency exchange volatility may depress Thailand's shrimp export target for 2006 as it may fall to 15 percent from the 20 percent growth projected earlier.
Shrimp exports in 2006 may now total some 240,000-250,000 tons with earnings around Bt72 to 73 billion, he noted.
In order to offset the expected decline in shrimp exports, the exporters may have to find new markets to cushion the impact, he suggested.
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