Patchara said fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war was unlikely to hit customs revenue hard.

“Although air freight may be affected by the war, the impact will not be high,” he said.

Regarding new tariff rates on imported parts for electric vehicle (EV) production, Patchara said his department would talk with the Office of the Board of Investment to avoid redundancies in tax privileges. He explained that makers of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) already enjoy tax privileges from the BOI. The tax exemption for BEV manufacturers would not affect Customs revenue much, while the country would stand to gain from domestic production of BEVs, he said.

He added that the department was seeking to finalise the import tax rate for battery vehicle manufacturers this year.

The BOI has already offered BEV manufacturers corporate tax exemption for eight years and more tax privileges if they invest in BEV research and developments in the Kingdom.