German firm cancels
Thai fruit salad over GMO fears
Friday September 3, 4:40 PM

BANGKOK, (AFP) - A German food distributor has cancelled orders of Thai fruit cocktail products out of fears they may contain genetically modified papaya.
The apparent stop order has hit as Thailand grapples with accusations that government trials of genetically modified papaya have contaminated northern farms and as the government backpedals over plans to broaden trials of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
"As far as I know one Thai company ... was facing a ban of its fruit salad because it includes papaya, and papaya was one of the fruits Thailand has been conducting GMO tests on," Wanlop Pichpongsa, director of the Top Organic Product and Supply, told AFP.
Wanlop, an opponent of GMO production in Thailand, did not identify the companies involved but said the industry was alarmed after the government put on hold open-field testing of GMO crops after strong resistance from groups such as Greenpeace.
"I think the ban was a precautionary measure by (the German) importers but it took everybody by surprise as it came so suddenly," Wanlop said.
The Bangkok Post quoted another exporter, Soontorn Sritawee of River Kwai International Food Industry, as saying a German importer cancelled its Thai fruit cocktail orders.
The agriculture ministry's department of agriculture reacted swiftly to the reports by asserting that Thai food products were safe and offering to provide non-GMO certificates to exporters who submit food samples for testing.
"The department is ready to provide information and facts to Thailand's trading partners to avoid this issue affecting our trade," Chakan Saengruksawang, the department's director general, said in a statement.
The department had already provided non-GMO certification for 248 food products including rice, Thailand's top agricultural export, but other foods including papaya, pineapple, watermelon and corn would require scientific testing, Chakan said.
Thai canned fruit salad exports reportedly generate about one billion baht (24.1 million dollars) annually.
The Thai government this week halted recently approved plans for open-field GMO trials which would have relaxed three-year-old regulations governing the crops, but the move was dismissed by activists as a short-term tactical ploy in the face of public protest.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been accused of bowing to pressure from US corporate giants like Monsanto, which is pushing to test GM corn strains, to reverse a ban on trials.