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Thursday, January 6 7:01 PM SGT
Thailand Lists 1,190 Items For Import Duty Cuts Jan 1BANGKOK (Dow Jones)--Thailand's Finance Ministry Thursday listed the 1,190 import items in which the country is committed to cut duties to 5% under a regional agreement of Asean Free Trade Area, or AFTA,According to the AFTA agreement, Thailand was expected to start implementing the deductions from Jan. 1, 2000. Charnchai Musignisarkorn, deputy director general of the ministry's Fiscal Policy Office, told a press conference that of the 1,190 items, 1,035 had previously charged duties at a rate of 15%, while the other 155 items had charged a 10% rate. Charnchai said there are nine categories for the 1,190 items, including 46 items of vehicle parts. These parts are, for example, manual gear boxes, wheels, radiators, bumpers, and brake assemblies. Other categories are: - 144 items of live animals and products made from them. These animals include donkeys, mules, sheep, goats and certain kinds of marine animals. - 211 items of products from certain plants--such as peanuts, rice, and other grains. - 20 items of animal fat and vegetable oil. - 219 items of processed food and beverage. These include sugar powder, certain kinds of bread, fruit juice, icecream, and certain kinds of wine and liquor. - 88 items of chemical products - such as perfume essences, shampoos and tooth pastes. - 108 items of metal products, except those made from iron and steel. - 120 items of machinery and electric appliance - such as certain types of air conditioners, sewing machines and telephone answering machines. - 244 other items such as certain kind of leather, shoes, umbrellas, clocks, eyeglasses, lenses and cameras. Asean, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is made up of 10 member countries. Apart from Thailand, the others are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. |