“Phumtham” orders strict inspection of imported goods, establishes a center to prevent illegal goods and businesses.

"Phumtham" held an intensive meeting with 28 agencies to solve the problem of importing substandard and illegal goods and services from abroad. He set 5 main measures to take care of consumers, Thai manufacturers and entrepreneurs, along with creating a balance in world trade regulations. He set up a special center to prevent and suppress illegal goods and businesses and to report results every week. Mr. Phumtham Vejjayachai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, chaired the meeting to solve the problem of importing and distributing substandard and low-priced products from abroad. Mr. Napintorn Srisanpang, Deputy Minister of Commerce, and senior executives from 28 related agencies attended the meeting to solve the problem of substandard and low-priced products imported into the market, to prevent and supervise both illegal products and businesses, along with increasing the competitiveness of Thai SMEs and E-Commerce entrepreneurs to adapt to the new era of trade. Mr. Phumtham revealed after the m eeting that today's discussion was to follow up on the operations of government agencies in accordance with the Cabinet resolution that requires relevant agencies to set measures/guidelines to solve problems and protect the interests of manufacturers and entrepreneurs in all dimensions, such as checking the accuracy of trade registrations and various licenses for foreign business operations, checking the quality of foreign products to ensure they meet standards certified by Thai agencies, checking licenses to import products from foreign countries and payment of import duties by foreign entrepreneurs, and checking the accuracy of factory operation licenses (Ror. 4) along with building immunity and increasing competitiveness for Thai entrepreneurs. A joint conclusion was reached for the measures that government agencies must implement, consisting of 5 main measures, divided into urgent measures that must be implemented immediately and sustainable measures, totaling 63 sub-measures, as follows: 1) Enforce regu lations/laws strictly by integrating strict inspection of goods at customs checkpoints, including declaration of tariffs, payment of VAT, inspection of industrial product standards (TIS) and licenses from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), increasing the rate of opening containers (Full Container Load), increasing the frequency of inspections by the Cyber ??Team, inspecting standard products sold online in terms of business operations, having proactive measures to inspect operators/service providers to comply with Thai laws, and preventing actions that are nominees by requiring Thai partners or shareholders to submit documents issued by the bank to certify or show financial status, along with applying for registration of a partnership or limited company. 2) Amend the regulations to be consistent with future trade, which the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) is in the process of preparing an announcement requiring foreign platform operators who meet the specified qualifications to 'regist er a legal entity by having an office in Thailand' along with additional requirements to ensure fair competition and protect Thai consumers. In addition, the Thai Industrial Standards Institute will accelerate the increase in the number of controlled products under mandatory standards to cover as many products as possible. 3) Tax measures: The Revenue Department is currently amending the Revenue Code to require online sellers from abroad and online shopping platforms that sell products in Thailand to register for VAT with the Revenue Department. At the same time, the Department of Foreign Trade is preparing to organize technical training for the private sector in affected industries. 4) Measures to assist Thai SMEs by assigning all relevant agencies, such as all agencies in the Ministry of Commerce, Department of Industrial Promotion, Department of Community Development, Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), and National Innovat ion Agency (NIA), etc., to accelerate the development of product production potential and business operations for Thai SME entrepreneurs to be competitive in the new era of global trade, especially promoting Thai entrepreneurs to be able to expand exports through 9 E-Commerce platforms, partners in target countries. 5) Create/expand cooperation with more trading partners such as China, Japan, and Korea to promote trade through E-Commerce channels as another channel to push Thai products through E-Commerce to foreign markets for Thai entrepreneurs, including promoting Thailand as a center for collecting and distributing products for e-commerce at the regional level. 'Today's meeting has set 5 measures to take care of consumers, Thai manufacturers and entrepreneurs, along with creating a balance between world trade regulations. The public's concerns have been examined and actioned, and the results are reported to the Special Operations Center for the Prevention and Suppression of Illegal Goods and Businesses, chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, who receives weekly reports. There will be joint meetings every 2 weeks. If necessary, work will be done more intensively. Products to be sold in Thailand must be of quality, legal, not cause damage to the country, and meet international standards. Inspections will be more intensive. If there are problems, the frequency of opening containers may be increased, which may require opening 100% of containers. Additional regulations will be reviewed and adjusted to fully protect the country's interests. The measures/guidelines to be issued will not be considered trade barriers, but will take into account trade agreements and international relations, while maintaining the interests of all industries and businesses in a balanced manner. They will support and develop Thai entrepreneurs so that they can adapt and compete in the new world of trade. Every country has its own mechanisms to take care of products and entrepreneurs in their own countries. In the case of the Temu app, after the government announced that it was concerned about this issue, the Chinese Embassy contacted us and asked the Chinese trade ambassador to provide an explanation. The Chinese Embassy understood the problems we encountered and was happy to cooperate. It accepted that Temu should set up an office in Thailand and agreed to negotiate for Temu to set up an office in Thailand. In the meantime, if any problems are found, they can be reported. The Chinese embassy will act as a mediator because it wants to maintain good relations with Thailand and agrees with the Thai government that international trade should be conducted fairly,' said Mr. Phumtham. Source: Thai News Agency