Thailand and EU agree on quotas, tariffs

The EU said in August that it would introduce quotas for cooked and salted poultry from Thailand, sparking protests from Thai producers who feared they would lose access to one of their most important export markets.

The quota for Thai cooked poultry was set at 160,033 tonnes a year. Exports beyond the quota will be subject to a tariff of 1,024 euros per tonne. Exports within the quota would be charged a tariff of 8 percent.

Friedrich Hamburger, head of the European Commission’s delegation to Thailand, said the agreement was a “balanced deal for both sides”.

“The agreed quota provides a substantial margin for the growth of Thai cooked poultry exports. Thailand will also benefit from reduced in-quota tariff rates,” he said.

Head of the Thai Broiler Processing Association, Prasert Abuchiracheeva, said Thai exporters had wanted the quota set at 190,000-200,000 tonnes.

“We could reach 160,000 tonnes under the quota within just a few years,” he told AFP.

For salted poultry, the annual quota was agreed at 92,610 tons, with a tariff of 1,300 euro/ton charged for exports beyond that. Exports within quota face a 15.4 percent tariff.

The EU also recently agreed on poultry import quotas and tariffs with Brazil.