The Cabinet approved the exemption of import on child safety seats
The Cabinet approved the draft notification of Ministry of Finance on the reduction of duty rates and the exemption of customs duties under Section 12 of the Customs Tariff Decree, B.E. 2530. (No.….) in order to reduce the expenses and promote child safety.
Mr. Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, Minister of Finance, revealed that according to the Cabinet’s resolution approving the draft Road Traffic Act (No. 13) B.E. 2565, announced in the Government Gazette on 7 May 2022, stating in Section 7 that passengers younger than 6 years old must be seated in a child safety seat, or in the seat specially designed for children to prevent danger while traveling in a car, violations or non-compliance will result in a fine not exceeding 2,000 baht, which will be effective on 4 September 2022. The Minister, therefore, assigned Thai Customs Department to draft the notification of Ministry of Finance on the exemption of import duty on child safety seats (Car Seats).
After conducting a research on related markets, Thai Customs Department found that the products are mostly imported with a small number of suppliers in terms of domestic trading. The Department then pursued a discussion with the Federation of Thai Industries regarding the local production of child safety seats. It was found that Thailand is a potential manufacturer of such products, but the demand for child safety seats in Thailand is not high enough to attract any investment in this business. However, following the implementation of the Road Traffic Act (No. 13) B.E. 2565, domestic demand is now expected to rise, and many operators will be interested in investment of child safety seats in Thailand. The Federation of Thai Industries deems it necessary to reduce the duty rates for importations of child safety seats for a year to encourage cheaper and more affordable prices. Thereby, firms and manufactures will be able to assess their potential in this business, which will be evaluated through discussion amongst interest parties once again after this one-year period has passed.
The Minister of Finance added that the draft notification of Ministry of Finance regarding the reduction of duty rates and the exemption of customs duties under Section 12 of the Customs Tariff Decree B.E. 2530 (No….) was proposed and approved by the Cabinet today in order to reduce the expenses and promote child safety. The notification aims to exempt duty for child safety seats (car seats) under subheading 9401.80.00 of HS Code only, starting from the date of announcement in the Government Gazette until 31 December 2023.
Should you need any further information about the duty exemption for child safety seats (Car seats), please contact Tariff Structure Section, Customs Tariff Appeal and Policy Division at 02-667-6482 or 02-667-4894. Other inquiries about customs issues, please contact Customs Care Center at 02-667-6656 or hotline 1164.
