The Commerce Ministry is intensifying its efforts to improve supervision of agricultural product imports to combat smuggling.
Chakra Yodmani, deputy director-general of the Internal Trade Department, said the agency has implemented measures to control the movement of 10 crops: paddy and milled rice; government stockpiled rice; fresh cassava roots and tapioca chips; cassava seedlings or cuttings; palm oil; animal feed corn; wheat and barley; mature coconuts and coconut products; and onion and garlic.
He said these measures are to prevent smuggling and unauthorised imports. The controlled areas are designated at customs checkpoints and various border checkpoints. If there is a need to transport goods outside the controlled areas, permission must be obtained.
Checkpoints are set up along the transportation routes to check for permits or excessive quantities being transported. Violations will be penalised, said Mr Chakra.
The measures fall under the Price of Goods and Services Act, which gives the Central Committee on the Prices of Goods and Services power to consider these prices.
He said the committee recently passed a resolution to extend price controls on 51 products and services for another year, expiring on June 30, 2024. The price control list will be forwarded for cabinet approval next Tuesday.
In a related development, director-general Wattanasak Sur-iam said on Wednesday the department conducted on-site inspections of smuggled garlic at fresh markets in Bangkok and surrounding provinces, specifically in Khlong Luang district, Pathum Thani.
Some 27,000 kilogrammes of garlic was found to have been transported from Laem Chabang Port in Chon Buri, valued at more than 2 million baht. The shipment was illegal because the trucks used to transport the goods were unauthorised and lacked transport permits, he said.
The truck drivers and confiscated goods were then handed over to the investigating officers at the Khlong Luang district police station for legal proceedings.
