The Foreign Trade Department plans to set up a committee to monitor and
eliminate non-tariff barriers (NTBs), which are emerging in increasing numbers
amid a blossoming of free-trade agreements (FTAs).
The panel will prioritise the
monitoring of NTBs in the Asean Free-Trade Area (Afta) following the 2015 launch
of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) to ensure that the goal of a seamless
market is not be hindered by such trade barriers.
Piramol Charoenpao,
director-general of the department, said the government would cooperate with
private-sector organisations to set up a special panel to monitor the rise of
NTBs in the trade of farm and industrial goods, and in the service sector, to
ensure sufficient penetration of trading partners' markets.
"The financial crunch and
the slowing recovery of the world economy have caused a rise in the number of
non-tariff barriers. Despite the FTAs, Thailand's exports could be impacted by
measures imposed by many countries that want to reduce trade deficits and
protect domestic manufacturers," Piramol said.
The committee will closely watch
for NTBs. Where it finds them, it will call for clarification from trading
partners for the reasons for the NTB and call for the elimination of the
barrier if possible. If that process does not work, the NTB issue would be
raised at meetings of economic ministers with the trading partner in question
in order to get rid of those barriers and facilitate trade growth.
After setting up panels to
monitor NTBs under Afta, the panel will expand the scope of its work to other
FTAs entered into by Thailand. In addition, the department has urged Thai
enterprises to maximise the benefits they reap from the FTAs, saying that the
pacts will help facilitate export growth.
So far, about 55 per cent of Thai
enterprises export goods under FTAs. The remainder have failed to exercise
their FTA privileges because of a lack of knowledge about the benefits of each
pact, according to the department.
PETCHANET PRATRUANGKRAI
Business & Investment Opportunities
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