Someone has presented me with a business opportunity involving importing goods from Australia by container. I think it is worthwhile pursuing, however a lot depends on costs involved in having the goods clear easily/cheaply with the Thai port authority.

Thailand and Australia have a trade free agreement, so in theory the goods should get through tax free. I understand that there may be some extra 'fees', however I want to be sure that I won't be hit with huge bills or that the authority will make life really difficult.

Can anyone offer advice?

This post has been edited by Smithson: 2008-08-05 11:40:00

Best advise you can get is from a freight forwarder. PM me and I can direct you to one.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/whistling.gif)

edit: the TAFTA does not cover all commodities. Wine for instance is still subject to the same taxes and duties as from anywhere else in the world!

This post has been edited by raro: 2008-08-05 17:55:38

What are you thinking of importing ?

the best thing you can do is go to the bds port, it is in south bangkok. there is a lady in the office, she speak good english and she can help you. the bds you can find when you drive the road number 9 al to south and just before the new brigde you go left . here it is a bit of a mess, they are working on the road, but ok on the next mainroad you go right.after 2 or 3 kilometer you will see on your leftside a sign bds (just after the petrolpump). i am sorry i forget the name of the street, but there is also a small bangkok hospital and prapradeng hospital, it is al in the same street.
this lady helped us a lot 2 years ago when we came here to travel with our mobilhome (for 6 months-> this was the trouble)
she knows they import rules verry good and it is a small harbor so they can do more for you then on a big one

good luck

My wife has a retail business in Australia and imports from Thailand, we had a bit of a shock regarding the Free trade agreement, duties are only waived if the exporter (whether in Thailand or Australia) has registered to have duties waived.
Our Freight forwarder says it is quite rare that a company bothers to go through all the red tape to register. So you may find that you still have duties to worry about.
The best advise is given above contact a freight forwarder/ Customs broker.

My advice: Be very careful about every detail even when using a freight forwarder and/or customs broker.

For our previous business, which was totalled by the tsunami, we imported some food service equipment from the US. The bill of lading was correct but stapled to it was the bill of sale which also listed some food products which were going to be shipped separately. Thai customs demanded an FDA certificate for the food products which hadn't even been shipped yet and refused to accept the explanation that the shipment contained no food.

The customs broker said he could do nothing and the entire shipment was confiscated. They would not even allow it to be shipped back to the US at our expense. It was a total loss (over $10,000) and I'm sure there is a Thai colonel somewhere with a really cool playroom in his basement.

...and why is this the failure of the freight forwarder / customs broker? You are not allowed to import food without FDA approval, as simple as it is. In Thailand there is no such a thing as a partial release, either the entire shipment is released or none of it. A solution might have been that you demand a customs inspection if you are 100% sure that there is nothing wrong with your shipment. If they find something, you are in even deeper trouble.

If the bill of sale states something wrong, again, that is not the mistake of the forwarder but by your supplier who submitted a flawed document to the forwarder. It is not the forwarder's duty to check the correctness of your paperwork - even though most forwarders would do it as a value added service, but it is not their responsibility! In fact, the forwarder will take those papers at face value.

I though that too, but it's not as bad as you may imagine.

fyi..

This is no longer the case... now that the freezone warehouses are up and running, it is now possible to clear partial shipments.

This post has been edited by CWMcMurray: 2008-09-17 12:40:54

FYI, if still interested,

The Australian Thai FTA has specific rules of origin. In order to satisfy for the reduced tariff your source must be registered and the paperwork supplied through the correct channels in Australia. If the Aussie content is not high enmough then you will not be able to claim the TAFTA rates.

Isaanaussie