G/AG/N/THA/133  
 
13 June 2023  
(23-4027) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Agriculture  Original: English  
 
NOTIFICATION  
The following submission, dated  8 June  2023, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of 
Thailand . The notification concerns new or modified domestic support measures exempt from 
reduction ( Table DS:2 ). 
 
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  G/AG/N/THA/133  
 
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  Table DS:2  
DOMESTIC SUPPORT: THAILAND  
Notification under Article 18:3 of the Agreement:  
New or modified domestic support measures exempt from reduction  
 
(1) FULL TITLE OF MEASURE:  
The program to assist farmers harvest fresh sugarcane to reduce PM 2.5 dust in the production 
season 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 . 
(2) DOMESTIC LEGISLATION REFERENCE:  
Cabinet Resolution s of 11 May 2021 and of 20 September 2022  respectively.    
(3) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF MEASURE WITH REFERENCE TO CRITERIA:  
The Thai government has determined that the problem of small particulate matter (PM 2.5) is an 
important environmental issue that affects the air quality and the health and hygiene of Thai people.  
Therefore, the problem is defined as a national agenda that must be resolved urgently. In general, 
the problem occurs from November to March each year, which corresponds to the sugarcane 
harvesting period by sugarcane farmers. In the past years, the amoun t of burnt sugarcane was 
around 70% of the total sugarcane production, which is one of the causes for PM 2.5 emissions 
during the harvesting period. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a program to reduce the burning 
of sugarcane.  
The objective of thi s assistance program is to encourage all sugarcane farmers to harvest and deliver 
fresh cane to various types of factories. The program is not only meant to help farmers who send 
sugarcane to sugar factories, but also farmers who send fresh sugarcane to et hanol and brown sugar 
factories.     
To be eligible to receive the payment, sugarcane farmers have to satisfy one of the following 
conditions:  
1. the sugarcane farmer has been legally registered under the Cane and Sugar Act B.E. 2527 
and has signed a contract  with sugar mills before harvesting; or  
2. the sugarcane farmer has signed a contract to supply sugarcane to ethanol mills or is 
registered to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives; or  
3. the sugarcane farmer has signed a contract to supply sugarcane to  brown sugar mills or is 
registered to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.  
The payment under 1 . – 3. will be available to all sugarcane farmers who harvest fresh and good 
quality sugarcane to mills which has not been burned and which contains not hing other than natural 
sugarcane (such as soil, sand, leaves sheaths, leaves, etc.).  
The assistance program is a Green Box support program, more specifically an environmental 
program that falls under Paragraph 12 of Annex 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture . It is related to 
the environmental objective of reducing PM 2.5 dust and is provided to sugarcane farmers under the 
specific conditions detailed above. Moreover, the amount of the payment is limited to the extra costs 
of 120 Baht per ton in order to cove r loss of daily income of fresh cane farmers when harvesting 
good and fresh sugarcane rather than burnt sugarcane.   
(4) COST OF MEASURE:  
The total cost that has been approved by the Government is  5.934 billion baht for the production 
season 2020/2021 and  8.159 billion baht  for 2021/2022. . G/AG/N/THA/133  
 
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  (5) DATE OF ENTRY INTO EFFECT:  
11 May 2021 and 20 September 2022  
(6) PERIOD OF APPLICATION:  
Sugarcane Crop Year 2020/2021 (December 2020 – September 2021) and 2021/2022 
(December  2021 – September 2022)  
(7) PRODUCTS TO PR INCIPALLY BENEFIT (IF ANY INDIVIDUAL PRODUCT(S)):  
The program covers only fresh sugarcane.  
 
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