1 week Ago
The Commerce Ministry has vowed to tackle the issue of Chinese products flooding into Thailand, Minister Pichai Naripthaphan said. He said on Saturday the ministry would expedite work on key issues affecting the public, including the high cost of many goods and the influx of cheap Chinese products, some of which fail to meet consumer safety standards. He added the government must enforce laws more strictly, including those related to taxes such as value-added tax, corporate income tax, and customs fees.
It would also examine the quality of imported goods to ensure they have certifications from various organisations, such as the Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The ministry will also strengthen laws to guarantee fair competition and safeguard consumers, for instance, by requiring foreign e-commerce companies to register and establish legal entities in Thailand, said Mr Pichai. The Chinese Embassy in Thailand responded by saying that nearly 80% of China's exports to Thailand are capital and intermediate goods, which are essential for local manufacturing and exports from Thailand.
The so-called cheap Chinese goods, which have attracted a great deal of public attention, mainly consist of daily chemical products, food, health products, clothing accessories, etc, and account for less than 10% of China's total exports to Thailand. Regarding the issue of products lacking FDA certification or TISI standards, the Chinese government required that Chinese enterprises and citizens strictly comply with laws and regulations in their international economic activities, it said. "We support the Thai government's efforts to strengthen supervision in accordance with the law, and to correct and ban relevant violations," the embassy said.
On the matter of e-commerce platforms, the embassy said countries around the world are grappling with the challenges posed by the development and management of cross-border e-commerce, which raises new questions for economic and trade cooperation between nations. "On the one hand, e-commerce reduces commercial intermediaries, lowers transaction costs, and offers consumers more convenient choices. "On the other hand, it places significant competitive pressure on traditional business models and introduces new challenges to regulation, product quality and safety assurance, and the protection of the rights and interests of merchants and consumers.
"Addressing these requires us to actively respond by leveraging our strengths, addressing our weaknesses, maximising benefits, and minimising harm to effectively serve economic and social development," it said. The Chinese side expressed its willingness to support Thailand in harnessing the new e-commerce format to explore the Chinese market. China is eager to strengthen cooperation with Thailand in building the digital capabilities of enterprises, exchanging best practices in e-commerce market supervision, and jointly capitalising on new opportunities in the Internet era, the embassy added in its response.
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