Thailand Law Library

by Thailand Lawyer

Chapter 7: Overtime Goods

Goods remaining in the custody of Customs in any of the following manner shall be deemed to be overtime goods:

1. imported goods which are hazardous goods of the types or categories specified by the Director-General under section 6 (6) for which the importer has not yet paid duty and taken such goods out of the Customs limits within the time period specified by the Director-General in the Government Gazette;
2. imported goods other than (1) which have remained in the custody of the Customs for a period of two months without a certified shipment entry and not having been paid or placed security for the duties levied on such goods, where the Director-General shall immediately notify the agent of the vessel and a period of fifteen days has passed since the agent of the importing vessel was notified by the Director-General.

In proceeding with overtime goods under paragraph one, the Director-General shall have the power to order a competent official to destroy or to sell such goods by auction, or to order the importer or the agent of the importing vessel to re-export such goods, and if the importer or the agent of the importing vessel fails to comply, the Director-General shall have the power to order a competent official to destroy such overtime goods at the expense of the importer or the agent of the importing vessel, as the case may be.

In ordering a competent official to destroy overtime goods under paragraph two, the method employed for such destruction shall be safe for human beings, animals, plants, property, and environment.

If the Director–General considers that the proceeds of a sale by auction under paragraph two would be less than appropriate, or there are any other justifiable reason, he may order the sale of such goods by any other method, and in the case where the proceeds of the sale either by auction or by such other method would be insufficient to cover the full duty or may cause any unnecessary damage, such goods shall be disposed of as the Director-General shall direct.

With regard to overtime goods under paragraph one (1), the Director-General shall prescribe the rules, procedure and period for expediting the execution of the official powers and duties under this section, taking into account the dangers that may subsequently happen.

The Director-General may order the disposition of or destruction of perishable goods which have not been cleared by the submission of a complete entry and which show clear signs of putrefaction at any time at the expenses of an importer or an agent of the vessel.

The proceeds of any sale under section 61 shall be first chargeable on the duty, storage costs, removal costs or other charges due to the Customs Department, and the balance shall be available for the payment of any appropriate charges due to the agent of the importing vessel. Any balance remaining after such deductions shall become the property of the State unless a claim is made by the owner of the goods within six months from the date of sale.

In the case of overtime goods which are waste products and which may be hazardous or dangerous to human beings, animals, plants, property, or the environment, if the facts appear to the Director-General that the master of the importing vessel colluded in the importation of such waste products or the master of the vessel cannot prove his full effort in the search for such waste products or prevent their importation to discard as overtime goods, in addition to the penalty imposed by law, the Director-General has the power to order the person in charge of any or all ports or airport located in the country to immediately re-export the waste products by the agent of the importing vessel or prohibit the use of port or airport and their facilities by the importing vessel or all other vessels belonging to the owner of such importing vessel for a period of time prescribed in accordance with the severity of the offence.