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Thailand: Exporters urged to use privileges
Exporters are being urged to make more use of free trade agreement (FTA) privileges and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) during the coronavirus crisis, especially in high-demand categories like food, drinks and processed farm products.
Keerati Rushchano, director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said that while use of FTA privileges and the GSP by Thai exporters fell by nearly 10% year-on-year during the first quarter of 2020 to US$16.24 billion, strong demand was seen in the above categories.
“We advise exporters to make use of the privileges under FTAs and the GSP before exporting,” Mr Keerati said.
The department said use of FTA privileges contributed $14.91 billion in the quarter, down nearly 11% year-on-year, while shipments under the GSP made up $1.33 billion, down 2.6%.
The five export markets with the most use of FTA privileges were Asean, China, Australia, Japan and India.
The Thai-Asean FTA continued to produce the highest value with $5.6 billion in the first three months, while the Thai-China FTA totalled $3.76 billion. Thai-Japan privileges were worth $1.80 billion.
The Thai-Australia and Thai-India FTAs saw value of $1.75 billion and $1.12 billion, respectively.
Thailand has 11 FTAs in place, excluding the Thailand-New Zealand FTA that requires self-declaration for proof of origin, and the Asean-Hong Kong FTA under which import tariffs on most of the product items from Thailand were waived before the pact.
Mr Keerati said the US retained the highest rate of GSP use, making up $1.2 billion, followed by Switzerland ($65.50 million), Russia ($41.38 million) and Norway ($6.66 million).
The GSP is used for trade with the US, Switzerland, Russia and Norway. Japan removed preferential tariffs for Thai products on March 31 last year.
Products that saw the highest application of GSP privileges were rubber gloves, air-conditioner parts, processed food, fruit and vegetable juices, and electric transformers.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1929624/exporters-urged-to-use-privileges