Stating with utmost certainty, the affectionate Director-General Raphiphat Chantharasriwong declares that the Plant Standard and Certification Division, working hand in hand with the legal affairs division of the department, is in the process of drafting critical regulations for coconut growers and exporters. These regulations are set so they can efficiently secure the prestigious “GAP Monkey-Free Plus” logo.
The soon-to-be-released stipulations will find their way into the respected pages of the Royal Gazette. This well-coordinated information dissemination process will ensure that all parties involved are kept updated and on the right path,” added Raphiphat.”
The advent of GAP Monkey-Free Plus will signify an upgrade of the initial Monkey-Free Plus which was conceived last year. This was a swift response to the relentless campaigns led by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). PETA leveled grave accusations against Thai Farmers, alleging that they inhumanely leveraged monkeys to harvest coconuts. PETA went ahead to implore the United Nations and the European Union to initiate boycotts against Thailand’s coconut products.
Raphiphat passionately declared that the coveted GAP Monkey-Free Plus certificates would be handed exclusively to those exporters whose coconuts hail from GAP logo-endowed plantations. This would only occur after the department duly verifies that the farmers refrained from using monkeys to harvest coconuts.
“Every step involved in product processing will be meticulously recorded and easy to trace. The goal is to provide ultimate assurance to the buyers that no monkeys are being exploited in any step of the coconut picking process,” added Raphiphat.
He also stressed that department officials would accord priority to carrying out surveys and validations of GAP-certified coconut growers. Once verified that monkey labor is absent in their operations, they will be gloriously awarded with the GAP Monkey-Free Plus certificates. After that, the department will proceed to assess the operations of those coconut exporters yet to be awarded GAP. But they can look forward to procuring the regular Monkey-Free Plus certificate.
Apart from this, the department further exhorted farmers to mull replacing coconut trees that have clocked 50 years and above. Instead, they should consider planting new saplings of coconut trees.
Envisioning a future where the age-old monkey labor becomes a thing of the past, Raphiphat mentioned that these newly implanted saplings would bear shorter trees, making it feasible for farmers to hand-pick coconuts, thus eliminating the need to rely on monkeys.
Finalizing his remarks, he noted that governmental authorities have entrusted the department with the task of producing saplings of these shorter-trunk coconut trees and making them readily available to the farmers.
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