Consumer rights advocates will ask the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) to abolish a legal amendment proposal they believe will authorise agriculture officials to "monopolise" supervision of food imports and exports at the expense of consumer safety.
At present, the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry oversees food sold abroad while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) checks the quality of food imported.
But the bill to amend the 2008 Agricultural Commodity Standards Act and the 1979 Food Act initiated by an NLA committee on agriculture and cooperatives, seeks to allow the ministry to supersede the FDA's power to check imported food quality as well, which could compromise food safety, said Monruedi Phoin, secretary of the Independent Committee for Consumer Protection (ICCP).
The group feared that if the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry oversees both food imports and exports, it might agree to relax the standard of imported food products in exchange for trade privileges for food exports, according to Kannika Kittiwetchakun, a member of an ICCP's sub-panel on food, drugs and health products.
The ministry might enjoy greater "bargaining power" in international trade talks as it has to promote exports to earn revenue for the country. However, it might come at the expense of food safety for consumers, she said.
"Economically, it sounds good as agriculture officials have more bargaining power. But will it put consumers at an disadvantage?" asked Ms Kannika.
Also, the transfer of power from the FDA to the ministry may cause confusion for related agencies, she added.
Prokchon Usap, coordinator of Thailand Pesticide Alert Network, said the amendment will only intensify concerns over Thai food rejected abroad and sent back to the country. The Agricultural and Cooperatives Ministry has not clearly explained what it intends to do to prevent this problem, she said.
In September last year, the amendment was forwarded to the cabinet by the NLA committee accused of introducing it without seeking opinions from consumers' representatives, she said.