Thailand Law Library

by Thailand Lawyer

Chapter 10 BIS: Duty Free Zone

The Director-General shall have the power to approve the establishment of a duty free zone for the operation of industrial, commercial or other activities which are beneficial to the economy of the country, and shall have the power to prescribe rules, procedures and conditions for the application for and the approval of establishment of a duty free zone.

A person who has received an approval for the establishment of a duty free zone should pay an annual fee as prescribed by the Minister in a Ministerial Regulation.

The Director-General shall have the power to prescribe the categories or types of articles to be taken into or released from a duty free zone, including the rules, procedures and conditions for the taking of goods into or the release of goods from a duty free zone.

Import duty shall be exempted for goods imported into the Kingdom for taking into a duty free zone in the following cases:

1. goods which are machinery, equipment, tools and appliances, including components thereof, which are necessary for use in industrial, commercial, or any other activity which are beneficial to the economy of the country, which are imported into the Kingdom for taking into the duty free zone approved by the Director-General;
2. goods imported into the Kingdom and into a duty free zone for use in industrial, commercial or any other activity which are beneficial to the economy of the country, or
3. goods released from other duty free zones.

Export duty shall be exempted for articles released from a duty free zone for exportation from the Kingdom.

The importation and production of goods in a duty free zone shall be exempted from excise duty as provided in the law on excise duty.

The importation and production of goods in a duty free zone shall be exempted from spirits duty, stamp duty and fees under the law on spirits, the law on tobacco, and the law on playing cards, whereby the provisions relating to the exemption and collection as prescribed in the law on excise duty shall apply mutatis mutandis to the aforementioned exemption of spirits duty, stamp duty and fees.

In the case of the importation of goods into the Kingdom or the taking of raw materials within the Kingdom into a duty free zone for producing, mixing, assembling, packing, or processing of the goods in any manner with the object of exportation from the Kingdom, the goods shall be exempted from the application of the law where related to the control of standards or quality, the affixation of any mark or sign, which shall be in accordance with the regulations prescribed by the Director-General.

In the case where there is a law which provides for the exemption of any goods from duty or the refund of duty upon exportation from the Kingdom, if such goods are taken into a duty free zone, they shall be exempted from duty or given a duty refund, whereby it shall be regarded that such goods have been exported out of the Kingdom at the time they are taken into the duty free zone. The foregoing provisions shall be in accordance with the regulations prescribed by the Director-General.

The taking of goods out of a duty free zone for use or for distribution within the Kingdom or for transfer to a bonded warehouse, or for distribution to an importer under section 19 bis of the Customs Act (No.9), B.E. 2482 (1939) or a person entitled to an exemption of duty under the law on customs tariff or other laws, shall be regarded as an importation into the Kingdom, or the completion of importation at the time when such goods are taken out of the duty free zone. The foregoing provisions shall be in accordance with the regulations prescribed by the Director-General.

The taking of goods in a duty free zone for use or for consumption or for other benefits other than the objectives of establishing the duty free zone shall be deemed as the taking of goods out of the duty free zone under paragraph one, unless it is the disposal or destroying of material waste, damaged articles, goods that cannot be used, or unused goods which are in the duty free zone under the permission of the Director-General and in accordance with rules and procedures prescribed by the Director-General in a Notification.

The provisions of Chapter 10 Warehousing and the penalties in relation to such provisions shall apply to the taking of goods into, storage, exportation, control, transport of goods in the duty free zone and the powers of a competent official, mutatis mutandis.