Thailand

• Labeling Requirements
• Required Documents
• Licensing
• Import Procedures
• Taxes/Tariffs
• Contacts

LABELING REQUIREMENTS

Please note that all of the information below may be in English, except for the warning statement, which must be in Thai.

• Brand Name
• Alcohol concentration (by degree or percentage)
• Quantity (volume)
• Warning statement: “Drinking alcoholic beverages decreases driving ability”
• Name and address of winery, factory, or importer
• Symbol of product registration (when applicable)

Note: Detailed requirements for the warning statement above are outlined in Thailand’s Ministerial Notification No. 177 of B.E. 2540 (1997).  An unofficial English translation is available online at: www.tisi.go.th/notif_th/fulltext/t97_333.pdf (PDF file).

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REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

• Import license (from Excise Department)
• Commercial invoice
• Certificate of Origin
• Bill of Lading
• Invoice
• Export Packing List (if any)
• Air Waybill
• Certificate of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) – i.e. a statement which verifies that the food product has been manufactured by an approved U.S. processing plant.  (Thailand also accepts a Certificate of Free Sale and Sanitation from those exporting from the U.S.)

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LICENSING

Importers are required to obtain licenses issued by the Excise Department (Ministry of Finance) if they plan to:

• Import more than a liter of alcohol;
• Transport untaxed alcohol from a factory;
• Transport more than ten (10) liters of alcohol;
• Transport more than one liter but less than ten (10) liters of alcohol between specified territories (provinces); or,
• Sell alcoholic beverages

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IMPORT PROCEDURES

Imported goods may not legally enter into Thailand until the shipment has arrived at specified port of entry and delivery of the merchandise has been authorized by the Customs Department.  Customs clearance can be done in person or electronically using Form “Gor Sor Gor 99,” through the EDI or “Electronic Data Interchange” system.

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TAXES/TARIFFS

Excise stamps are used to indicate that the excise duties on alcohol products have been paid.

For the most current tariffs and taxes applied to imported products for this country, please visit the Online Tariff Database provided by Tariffic at: http://www.tariffic.com/ITA/, and click on “On-The-Fly Tariffeed”.  Please ensure you have a 10-digit HS classification code in order to obtain tariff information.  Also see the Census Bureau’s Schedule B search function (http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/schedules/b/index.html), which allows you to classify your product according to United States export codes. Simply click "Search" and enter the keyword (i.e. beer) that best describes your product.

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CONTACTS

Most of the information in this guide was obtained from direct contact with various governmental organizations and embassies, as well as online sources.  The FAS Attaché reports at: http://www.fas.usda.gov/scriptsw/attacherep/default.asp served as the primary (online) sources used for this report.

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