Philip Morris Thailand Applauds WTO Tax Ruling

22 June 2011

Infamous tobacco giant Philip Morris Thailand (PMTL) has issued a statement applauding the World Trade Organization appeals body’s court decision regarding complaints submitted by the Philippines over rules governing import taxes on cigarettes in Thailand.

The appeals body ruled to uphold an earlier ruling on the issue. The Philippines initially submitted a petition to the World Trade Organization in 2008, stating that Thailand was unfairly adjusting import prices issued by Philip Morris in the US for cigarettes the company made in the Philippines. The complaint stated that the practices used by Thailand caused unscrupulous customs prices. The import price declared by a manufacturer is usually used to determine tax amount, and Thailand initially suspected PMTL of declaring lower than normal cigarette prices in an attempt to avoid the full tax amount.

The World Trade Organizations appeals body agreed with the initial ruling on the case, which states that Thailand did in fact violate WTO rules by levying VAT (value added tax) on the imported cigarettes in excess of the tax levied on Thai cigarettes.

PMTL  stated that this ruling shows that the Thai government is taking the necessary steps to review and revise the country’s current customs laws.

True Accuses Total Access of Violating Thailand’s Foreign Business Act

15 June 2011

On Tuesday, the Crime Suppression Division of the Thai police force received a complaint from True Move Co., the cellular phone arm of larger True Corp. PCL, stating that the shareholder structure of Total Access Communication PCL infringes on the Foreign Business Act of Thailand. True Move Co. and Total Access Communication PCL are rivals within the telecoms industry in Thailand.

True stated that due to the large percentage of foreign ownership, Total Access is considered a foreign entity. True claimed that the larger company has at least 71% foreign ownership through foreign nominees.

In Thailand, the law requires that only 49% of a business can be owned by foreigners.

True claims that although Total Access reported its foreign ownership right at 49%, a report sent to the Norway and Singapore Stock Exchanges from a telecoms group in Norway suggest that Total Access actually has about 66.50% foreign ownership.

Responding to the accusation, Total Access released a statement claiming that it has followed all Thai regulations correctly, and that it has reported its shareholder structure accurately.

Related Articles:

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Foreign Business Act of 1999

Foreign Business Act

FDA Warning to Include Daily Nutrition Amount on Snack Food

8 June 2011

The Thailand Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an alert to snack food companies importing products to Thailand to begin strictly providing daily nutrition amounts on the packaging of their products, once new labeling laws come into place in August 2011.

Nearly 5,000 snack products will be affected, as well as the manufacturers and importers of these products. The groups that fall under the new labeling requirements include popcorn, potato chips, biscuits, cream-filled wafers and crackers.

The GDA labeling requirements, introduced by the FDA, include providing labels that demonstrate the percentage of the recommended daily amounts per serving, in combination with the absolute amount per serving.

The FDA plans to launch public outreach and ad campaigns in order to educate people, particularly educators, parents and children, about daily nutrition amounts and the recommended daily doses.