EU spirits producers welcome decision to file WTO talks on Thai customs rules
Dated: 1 February 2008
The European Spirits Organisation - CEPS has welcomed the European Union’s request to push ahead with formal talks at the WTO aimed at securing a fairer Thai customs valuation system in line with international trade norms.
The move comes following a change in Thai policy on customs valuation as from September 2006 whereupon Thai officials have arbitrarily rejected the product values declared by importers and have instead calculated the value of imports for tariff and tax purposes according to a fixed, standard margin, thereby breaching the WTO Customs Valuation Agreement.
Thailand represents the eight largest export market by volume (at 3.4 million cases) and 18th largest export market by value (€ 72 million or $106.86 million) for EU spirit drinks. Ahead of the revised Thai customs policy being applied, EU spirits exports were already in decline due to high import duties and internal taxes.
The new rules have resulted in unjust hikes in the actual value of import tariffs due and financial burdens in the form of heavy bank guarantees for importers to cover potential liabilities when declared product values are contested.
Latest estimates of such liabilities suggest EU spirits importers have lodged funds valued at approximately €12 million.
Says Jamie Fortescue, Director General of the European Spirits Organisation – CEPS: “This constitutes not only a trade barrier for one of Thailand’s important trading partners (the EU), but also means ultimately fewer imports and thus less revenue for the Thai Exchequer, as well as restricting consumer choice.”
“We fully support the EU decision to launch formal talks at the WTO on the Thai customs valuation procedure and hope that Thai policy will be brought into line with WTO requirements at the earliest opportunity.”
The European Spirits Organisation - CEPS is the representative body for the spirits industry at the European level. Its membership comprises 36 national associations representing the industry in 29 countries, as well as a group of leading spirits producing companies.
In Thailand, the spirits market represents an estimated 58.12 million cases, of which the majority is Thai white spirits.
However, market shares for imported spirits are small (approximately 7%, totalling 4.22 million cases), 3.33 million cases of which are whisky.
(2 October 2008) Krones AG, Neutraubling, Germany, will be using the BRAU Beviale 2008 to showcase new forms of service support. In the new interactive internet portal, called “LCS Remote Service”,...
(1 October 2008) Green at the source: Tetra Pak works with its paperboard suppliers to encourage good forest management practices. It’s quite a sight as the plane descends over the south coast of ...
(1 October 2008) Engineered nanoscale materials (ENMs), which contain properties that offer potential benefits for use in food packaging, raise new safety evaluation challenges for regulators and ...
(1 October 2008) Technological advancement for bioplastics is said to potentially reduce the petroleum consumption for plastic by 15-20% in 2025, according to a new market study by Helmut Kaiser C...
(1 October 2008) In a local collection campaign, a communal ‘garbage bank’ is set up for the collection, separation, logistic and management of waste. Consumers are paid for bringing in the waste ...
(1 October 2008) Ishida has developed the F-SPA Flexible Strip-Pack Applicator that creates hanging strips of bagged products to promote point-of-purchase sales at retail outlets. The F-SPA produc...
(1 October 2008) Sigpack Systems, in partnership with Bistrozucker, has developed an integrated packaging system for tea in Stickpacks. The system produces the perforated Stickpack and the seconda...
(1 October 2008) After the conversion of beer in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from PCO 1810 to PCO 1881 in Germany, Bericap’s SuperShorty has been introduced for aseptic filling in China and f...
Marks & Spencer has opened its first store in mainland China with hopes that it might lift flagging results. As the flagship store opened on West Nanjing Road, Shanghai’s premier shopping street, the UK retailer reported its worst performance for three years with like-for-like UK sales down by over six per cent over the last three months.
Sorin Minea, chairman of the Romanian Federation of Food Industry Business Owners (Romalimenta) says the food industry is currently overdeveloped in Romania and explains that the weight of current expenses...
US grocers including Whole Foods Market, Kroger and Stop & Shop have had to hire third party verifiers to root out produce that contains pesticide residue despite organic seals. Some supposedly organic producers are certifying conventionally-grown produce in order to increase the price.
Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, has shown it operates best in tough markets, racking up a 10.3 per cent increase in profit of €1,824 billion for the first six months of 2008 to 23 August. Total sales rose 13.8 per cent to €32.1 billion.
Metro is currently a patchwork of conventional grocery stores under the banners A&P, Dominion, Loeb, The Barn, Ultra and Food Basics. What the third-largest grocer in Canada is planning to do is change banners in order to shed stale concepts and mixed consumer impressions.
Walmart has started listing the groceries it stocks online in a Beta section of their website listing thousands of food and other grocery-type products. The site also communicates nutritional information to consumers.
