Cassava plan an important roal as cash crop for Thailand, and as domestic demand is low, the country has turned to become the world’s leading exporter of cassava products.
In Cambodia, where cassava is the second most important agricultural crop after rice, production of the starchy root is also geared for foreign markets, mainly Thailand, China and Vietnam. Lacking processing facilities of their own, Cambodian farmers must sell the dried cassava chips and flour to these markets, where it is processed into food, textiles and paper products.
Cambodia exported 106 million tonnes of cassava during the first 10 months of 2015 with an estimated value of $20 million, according to Ministry of Commerce data.
Yet Thai traders have long relied on Cambodian farmers to produce at least a portion of their export crop. Thai authorities have traditionally used tariffs as a valve to regulate the flow of labour-intensive cassava flour from Cambodia and maintain higher prices for their own farmers.
The ASEAN economic community (AEC), launched late last year, stands to change this dynamic. The new grouping envisions a fully integrated economic bloc of 10 ASEAN member states, with a free flow of capital, goods and labour. Member governments have pledged to abolish tariffs on most products traded within the region, including cassava.
But according to Yin, Thai authorities have replaced tariffs with a raft of non-tariff barriers aimed at stemming the flow of Cambodian-grown cassava across the border by notching up its shipping costs to discourage trade. In recent months, Thai border officials have shown a conspicuous zeal in enforcing weight restrictions on cassava-laden trucks.