Thailand plans tariff cuts

Thailand plans tariff cuts

BANGKOK (AFX-ASIA): In order to comply with the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) tariff agreement, Thailand has designated 9,111 items to receive reduced import tariffs of 0-5 percent by the end of this year, Finance Ministry Fiscal Policy Office director general Sathit Limpongphand said.

Quoted in a Business Day report, the official said that of this figure, 9, 104 items were put on an inclusion list, with another seven items being placed on a sensitive list.

On the new list, 435 new items were added from the previous year. These include marine, chemical, steel and air-conditioning products.

Plants, coffee beans, potatoes, and dried coconuts are among the items on the sensitive list.

The ACTS agreement requires the six original member nations -- Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand -- to lower tariffs on 90 percent of the goods on the inclusion list by year-end.

By the end of 2002, another 439 new items will be placed on the inclusion list.