More food products containing genetically modified organisms are expected to surface in the Thai market, the Food and Drug Administration said yesterday.

A biotechnology expert suggested the government eradicate GM crops still existing in the country, which he said were apparently the source of raw materials for some products found to contain GMOs.

Vichai Chokeviwat, the FDA secretary-general, said his agency would co-ordinate with Greenpeace to obtain more information on food products with GMOs found locally.

Also, there would be a random survey of food products sold in the Thai market, he said. He said the FDA had not conducted GM tests on products earlier because Thailand had no legal prohibition on sales of such products.

Assoc Prof Wichai Cherdshewasart of Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Science said the Greenpeace report confirmed that GM contamination had reached the level of raw material.

He said that while GM produce was not considered toxic, the fact could hurt Thai exports in the world market.

Thailand should become GMO-free to take advantage of the current sentiment in major world markets such as the European Union and Japan, he said. Mr Wichai is a member of the National Board of Biosafety under the Prime Minister's Office.

He believed the GMO-free policy would help raise Thai crop prices which have suffered perennially.

"Now is our golden opportunity. Most countries are looking for non-GMO produce. We should take advantage of it." In adopting such a policy, the government must then ensure that existing crops with GM plants, mainly soya bean, will be identified and eventually eradicated.

The most effective means to contain the spread of GM crops is either to immediately eradicate live plants or put a buffer zone around them and eradicate them later.

However, the method would probably run into serious resistance from farmers and compensation would be costly.  Therefore, an alternative would be to use the produce to make animal feed before slapping a ban on GM crops.

Mr Wichai agreed with the demand of the Confederation of Consumers Organisations of Thailand that labelling be legally required on GM products.

Deputy Health Minister Suraphong Suebwonglee said he did not think Thailand would face trade sanctions for selling products with GMO because there is still no clear evidence of negative health impact from consumption of GMO products.

Nor should the products be banned from the market for the same reason.

However, he said the FDA would have to immediately consider labelling food products to increase consumer protection and enable them to choose whether or not to consume products with GMO ingredients.  "It is time to specify a date for enforcing labelling of GMO products, but manufacturers should be given time to prepare and adjust," he said.

Dr Vichai, the FDA secretary-general, said his agency had not yet finalised rules on the labelling process because it was waiting for a resolution to be reached at the international level.  However, he said the criteria for labelling products with GMO content are likely to be announced after the Songkran holiday.

Samples of more than 100 food products sold in the country have been tested to find if they have GMO content.  The results have been forwarded to public health permanent secretary Mongkhol na Songkhla, Medical Sciences Department director-general Pakdi Pothisir said yesterday. However, he declined to reveal the test results saying the department does not have the authority to reveal such information.

Mr Pakdi said more than 1,200 samples of food products, including canned tuna fish in allegedly GMO oil had also been sent by private manufacturers for testing, in order to avoid possible trade sanctions.