Thai meeting on INRO membership up in air

Thai meeting on INRO membership up in air

BANGKOK (Reuters): A government panel's meeting to review
Thailand's membership in the International Natural Rubber
Organization (INRO) ended without a conclusion yesterday.

Members of the Natural Rubber Policy Committee were sharply
divided on the issue, Deputy Agriculture Minister Somchai
Sunthornwat told reporters.

But other committee sources told Reuters that a decision could
not be reached because some members did not want Thailand to lead
a walkout from INRO on its own and wanted to secure support from
two other major producers -- Indonesia and Malaysia -- before
making such a move.

Thailand is the world biggest producer and exporter of natural
rubber, followed by Indonesia and Malaysia.

"We could not reach any consensus on the issue today. The
panel members are divided over the pros and the cons of such a
move," Somchai said.

But he did not elaborate and declined to disclose when a
decision would be made by the panel. The committee's decision
must be approved by the Thai cabinet.

Those who favor membership withdrawal have charged that the
INRO, which groups top world producers and consumers, is
ineffective in carrying out its role to support bearish world
rubber prices.

A senior Thai official who attended the panel's meeting said
one of the reasons Thailand was reluctant to make a decision now
was because it did not want to withdraw from the grouping alone.

"Some floated an idea that if Thailand wants to withdraw from
INRO, it should consult Indonesia and Malaysia first and, if
possible, withdraw as a group of major producers and not as a
single country," said the official who asked not to be
identified.

"There will be a meeting in August on the issue among the
three countries," he said.