BANGKOK, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government's plan to export rice from its warehouses will depress rice market mechanisms and set global rice prices into volatile motion, a senior Thai commerce ministry official was quoted by media here as warning on Sunday.

    Foreign Trade Department director-general Apiradi Tantraporn said Japan had now stored about 1.5 million tons of rice, which it purchased under the World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations, and had recently negotiated with the Philippines on selling about 200,000 tons of the stored rice, according to Thai News Agency.

    Japan had imported the rice under the WTO for the country's domestic consumption and not for re-export, said Apiradi.

    Since 1995 Japan has imported rice at a level of 600,000-700,000 tons annually, mainly from Thailand and the United States, for its own use, she said.

    The re-export of rice by Japan will go against objectives of WTO and will also further depress global rice prices, Apiradi said, adding that there were signs since the beginning of May that rice prices in the world had begun to stabilize, unlike the first four months of 2008.

    If Tokyo's plan materializes, global rice prices would become depressed again and farmers in rice producing countries, including Thailand, would be severely impacted, she said.

    Apiradi said if Japan wanted to help countries face natural disasters or food shortages, it should go through international organizations such as the U.N. World Food Program or hand out aid in the form of cash donation.