Pakorn pushes forward Omnibus Law on transit goods, expected to generate 1.5 billion baht per year
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Pakorn Nilprapunt, Deputy Prime Minister and chairman of the subcommittee on business facilitation development, disclosed at the second meeting of the subcommittee that it has been accelerating the push for a single central law, or Omnibus Law, on the transit of goods, in order to align the definition of transit with customs law. This will help eliminate confusion, reduce the steps involved in opening containers for inspection, and shorten the transport time for goods passing through the country, while also promoting Thailand as a hub for both rail and sea transport. This law has already completed public consultation through the central system and will help unlock restrictions and slow bureaucratic regulations to immediately support private-sector investment and trade. In addition, a ministerial regulation has been amended to change the height standard for High Cube containers to 4.5 meters for 40-foot containers, in line with international standards, so that continuous cargo transport can proceed immediately without wasting time switching containers. At the same time, several other departmental regulations and ministerial regulations have been revised, such as the amendment of the ministerial regulation on supplies and procurement methods for supplies that the state wishes to promote and support under Article 17 (2), the amendment of announcements by the Department of Fisheries and the Department of Livestock Development concerning permits for the import, export, and transit of aquatic animals and animal carcasses, as well as the amendment of announcements by the Excise Department concerning the criteria for taking vehicles out of factories or bonded warehouses for performance testing, and the improvement of guidelines for pricing finished vehicles, which addresses a key bottleneck for Thailand's automotive industry. Pakorn continued that the subcommittee has set new standards and economic performance indicators, or benchmarks, that bring the private sector in to participate in the assessment. Data from the Thai Chamber of Commerce indicates that unlocking legal restrictions in this first set, specifically the laws related to the transit of goods, will be able to generate revenue for the country of no less than 15,000 million baht per year. Criteria have also been set requiring private-sector organizations such as the Federation of Thai Industries, the Thai Bankers' Association, or the Capital Market Development Council, which will propose future legal amendments, to prepare economic value estimates to accompany consideration. The legal improvements that make progress will be proposed to the large meeting of the Joint Public-Private Consultative Committee chaired by the Prime Minister, and will then be submitted to the Cabinet for consideration in accordance with the next steps.