Thai Customs Department

When making business decisions about future imports, the advance tariff advice service provided by Thai Customs may be of assistance. This service provides a classification advice free of charge. However, it must be noted that this service is designed for imports to allow business decisions to be made. It is not designed to deliver real-time advice. The service standard for the provision of advice under normal circumstances is 30 days.

“Advance tariff advice” is a written statement on the tariff classification of a product, issued to a person by Thai Customs. It provides nationally tariff classification on future imports of goods into Thailand. Businesses who would like to confirm the tariff classification of a product may apply for an advance tariff advice to Thai Customs.

An application for an advance tariff advise should be done at least 30 days before the date of importation of the goods. In addition, the application should contain all the information requested by Thai Customs. It is the responsibility of a business operator to provide Thai Customs with complete and accurate information. Failure to provide all the necessary information may result in a delay or the inability to issue an advance classification. Misinformation will result in the cancellation of an advance tariff advice.

REQUEST FOR THE ADVANCE TARIFF ADVICE

A request for advance tariff advice must be in the form of a letter as indicated in the Customs Notification No 54/2551. The request should be accompanied by the documents/information listed below:

1. A request form where each application should be restricted to a single product;
2. Supporting documents e.g. a purchase order, a sale contract, an invoice, a letter of credit (L/C), or a pro forma invoice. etc.; and
3. A full description of goods for advance tariff advice together with other supporting documents such as trade name/brand, specific characteristics of goods, composition of goods, production formula, chemical structure, a description of process by which the goods are manufactured, a description of packaging, the anticipated use of goods, manufacturer’s product literature, drawings, photographs, samples, catalogue, information on the previous tariff classification, etc.

The request for advance tariff advice should be delivered to the Customs Tariff Bureau, Thai Customs Headquarters in Bangkok at least 30 days before the date of importation of the goods. Thai Customs has set standard for issuing advance tariff classification within 30 days of receipt of all necessary information, and will seek to issue classification rulings within a shorter period if possible. If the request with complete information is submitted less than 30 days, Thai Customs cannot guarantee that an advance ruling will be issued within 30 days. If all nescessary information is not received with the request, further information will be requested and the time standard of 30 days will commence with the receipt of the additional information.

All the request should be submitted in Thai and must be signed by a business operator or an authorized person. Thai Customs retains the right to reject the request if the afore mentioned conditions/documnets are not fulfilled.

REQUEST FOR REVIEW OF ADVANCE TARIFF ADVICE

A person who has received an advance tariff advice has the right to appeal that advice. The request for review should be submitted within 30 working days from the date of receiving the advance tariff advice for tariff classification from Thai Customs. Thai Customs has set standard for issuing the reviewed advance tariff advice within 30 days of receipt of the request. The reviewed tariff advice is deemed a final and will be effective 1 year from the date of issuing the reviewed advance tariff advice.

APPLICATION OF ADVANCE TARIFF ADVICE

An advance tariff advice will be honored by Thai Customs with regards to the particular importation of goods:

• As long as the material facts and circumstances surrounding the importation of goods in question are the same as the material facts and circumstances presented in the request for the advance ruling; and
• If all conditions in the advice have been met and if the advice has not been modified, revoked, revised, or cancelled.

An advance tariff advice is effective for 1 year from the date of issuing the reviewed for tariff classification. To ensure the receipt of the benefits of an advance tariff advice at the time of importation, importers should refer to the given “advance tariff advice” in the Import Declaration to allow a Customs officer at the port of entry to follow the advance tariff advice correctly.
The advance tariff advice is applied to the person who has issued the advance advice only.

REVOCATION OF ADVANCE TARIFF ADVICE

An advance tariff advice may be revoked by Thai Customs if the application for an advance tariff advice contains a misstatement or omission of/incomplete material facts.

In addition, the rulings, although correct when issued, ceased to be effective at the later date if fall under the following circumstances:

• when the advance tariff advice are in conflict with the new tariff measures or the judicial judgment;
• when the advance tariff advice are revoked, revised cancelled, or modified because additional information upon which the rulings were based is received.

CONTACT

For further inquiry and information, you may contact the Customs Call Center at Tel. 1164 or the Customs Clinic at Tel. 02-667-7880-4, Fax. 02-667-7885, e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Additional information may also be obtained from Customs ports of entry/exit. Please consult our telephone directory for a Customs office near you. The listing can be found under the “CONTACT US” section.