Ministry seeks crackdown on substandard products

The Industry Ministry has vowed to push for stricter enforcement of laws controlling substandard products that falsely claim compliance with the Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI).
Speaking after the weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Industry Minister Akanat Promphan said the ministry would seek cooperation from modern trade stores to randomly inspect products for quality, deploying special units to look out for illegal factories producing hazardous waste.
“To enforce measures to control substandard products, we are seeking cooperation from several modern trade stores to help inspect products claiming TISI compliance that lack quality,” he said. “Random inspections will be conducted to enforce the law, covering manufacturers producing goods that falsely claim to meet TISI standards.”
Regarding efforts to tackle industrial waste disposal, Mr Akanat said the ministry is expediting the drafting of the Industrial Waste and Electronic Waste Act, which is expected to be completed within 1-2 months.
He said two urgent tasks must be addressed: managing substantial industrial waste nationwide, which requires more central budget funding; and intensifying crackdowns on illegal factories operating without licences.
Inspections in Prachin Buri province last week revealed that some illegal factories are still operating, necessitating the enforcement of the Hazardous Substances Act. Special operational units will conduct inspections weekly, said Mr Akanat.
The minister said he is preparing to propose measures to the cabinet regarding assistance to promote and reduce the burning of sugar cane. This proposal was recently approved by the Office of the Cane and Sugar Board, and will be brought to the cabinet meeting within 1-2 weeks.
Over the past 5-6 years, measures have been implemented to encourage a reduction in the burning of sugar cane. Farmers who deliver fresh sugar cane will receive assistance of 120 baht per tonne.
Prior to the implementation of this measure, sugar cane burning occurred at rates of 50% to 70%. After the measures were introduced, the burning rate has decreased to about 30%.
However, the problem is some agricultural areas are inaccessible so machines cannot be deployed. In this case, the crop must be cut manually.
In the areas requiring manual labour, the easiest method has been to burn the leaves first before commencing the cutting process.