BANGKOK, 27 July 2011-The Cooperative Promotion Department is set to establish a network of commodities to eliminate the intermediary and to raise the standards of Thai products.
Director General of the CPD Mr. Somchai Charnarongkul said the move was also to increase market channels for products under the supervision of the CPD. Every item will be improved to the global standards before the network could be established.
According to Mr. Somchai, even though there are over 7,000 CPD offices around the countries, middlemen are still employed to help facilitate the product exchange process between traders. To exemplify this scenario, rice, which is produced in the Northeast, is being traded for seafood in the South. However, due to certain obstacles, an intermediary is being brought in and is able to determine the price independently, which eventually increases the price of products more than they should be.
Mr. Somchai further explained that if the process could be executed without the assistance of the middlemen, CPD farmers could buy or exchange products at a much lower price. He said it would be easier to improve the quality of farm products without a third party. He expected that the farm products would be in line with the international standards that they would meet the demands overseas.
