Thailand said yesterday that it had refused to sign a trade agreement between South Korea and Asean, insisting that rice be included on the list of goods facing tariff cuts.

The other nine Association of Southeast Asian Nations members signed the agreement covering trade in goods, a precursor to a full free trade agreement (FTA), while Thailand said negotiations over the issue would continue.

"We deferred the signing. It may take place in the next three to six months," Thai Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak told reporters.

Under the deal, South Korea and Asean's six more advanced countries - Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand - would start cutting tariffs from July 2006 when the agreement goes into force.

The proposed accord specifies that South Korea and each Asean country may choose up to 40 items that could be excluded from tariff reductions for an unspecified period.

South Korea wants to put rice on its protected list but Thailand, the world's number one rice exporter, objected.

Needed more time

Vietnam, the world's number two exporter, also raised the issue with South Korea, but the problem was settled when Seoul granted some concessions on industrial goods.

But Somkid said Thailand was not seeking concessions, indicating it was taking a hard line and would insist on South Korea's rice market being opened up.

"We need some more time to discuss. We are not being left out, we decided to defer," he said.

"Thailand is committed and supports the FTA between Korea and Asean, but rice is a very important issue for Thailand because more than 70 percent of the people are farmers.

"So once you take rice out of the list, I think both Thailand and Korea need some time to discuss further to find a right solution that we can agree on."

At their meeting Friday, economic ministers from Asean and South Korea also discussed a "framework agreement on comprehensive economic cooperation" which Malaysia said their leaders would sign on Tuesday.

"The framework agreement will govern the establishment of the Asean-Korea FTA by 2010, covering trade in goods, services and investments," the Malaysian trade ministry said in a statement.

Malaysian Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz said she was confident that Thailand's signing of the trade in goods agreement would not be too late.

"Everybody signed except Thailand ... they would then sign it later after they have settled whatever outstanding issues they have with Korea," she told reporters.