The cabinet meeting on Tuesday 16, November 2010 has come to the following decision:
The Cabinet approved the draft of the Ministerial Regulation to Partition the Office of the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice (Issue No....) Year..., which has already been checked by the Office of the Council of State and approved to proceed. The draft has also been exempt from the Cabinet resolution on the directives of the proposal of ministerial regulation on partition within department, which was made on December 19, 2006.
Synopsis
1. Addition (8/1) to No.1 is to give the authority to the Office of the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice to assist law enforcement for criminal offences and law enforcement in general in order to increase the efficiency in justice system and to add a guarantee for justice for the public (No.1 on the draft).
2. Addition (10) to No.2 is to establish an office to enforce law for criminal offences and the 2002 ministerial regulation partitioning the Office of the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice (No.2 on the draft).
3. addition (10) to No.3 is to give authority to the office enforcing criminal law and law enforcement authority to assist the law enforcement for criminal offences and law enforcement in general after a request to digitally check personal data from other agency is made. The request can also be a request to check and report on performance or negligence of duty of civil servant or government official or employee.
The Cabinet approved both following proposals made by the Office of National Economic and social Development Board.
1. The draft of the 5-Year Hemp on Highland Development Plan (2010-2014) was approved under the strategy aimed to promote hemp plantation on highland. The draft of the operation plan to pilot the hemp plantation in 5 provinces, namely, Chiang Mai, Nan, Chiang Rai, Tak, and Phetchabun, was approved to provide a model for controlled hemp plantation, including mechanisms moving the strategy forward and realisation of the plan, to other areas.
2. The Ministry of agriculture and Cooperatives has been assigned to take responsibility in coordinating with other agencies, through Highland Research and Development Institute (Public Organisation), in considering the 4-Year Official Plan of the agency. The ministry has also been assigned to take into consideration the opinion of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Industry, and the opinion on the cost and benefit in proceeding by using the budget allocated for the strategic development of hemp from the Budget Bureau. As for the budget allocated for the implementation of the operation plan for 5-Year Hemp on Highland Development Plan (2010-2014), worth 72.35 million Baht, and the budget for the implementation of operation plan for 2-Year Northern Hemp on Highland Pilot Project (2011-2012), worth 17.549 million Baht, or 89.899 million Baht in total, relevant agencies have been assigned to fund them with the allocated budget from the Fiscal Year 2011 Budget, and later on from Fiscal Year 2012 to 2014 Budgets. Relevant government agencies have been assigned to propose requests for budget based on necessary and appropriate expenses, that can be verifiable and are in accordance with the operation or project plan under 4-Year Civil Service Plan of the relevant agency, in accordance with the Budget Bureau’s opinion.
The Cabinet approved tax incentives for the development of Thai commercial vassals and approved in participle the draft of the Executive Royal Decree Under Tax Code for Business Exempt from Value Added Tax (Issue No....) Year..., as proposed by the Ministry of Finance. the draft has been forwarded to the Office of the Council of state for verification and has been approved to proceed.
Background
The Ministry of Finance proposed:
1. The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB), through the Thai shipowners’ Association, has proposed the right to opt to register value added tax and to pay the value added tax since, as of now, Thai shipowners servicing the domestic market cannot take the consumption tax collected through consumption of goods and services from businesses who registered value added tax in their tax calculation, adding additional cost to Thai shipowners and disabling them of efficient Cash Flow Management. Thus, to solve the problem, consumption tax has to be averaged so that businesses can get the tax refund, which expands the continuous tax receipt to relevant businesses and reduces hidden cost in transportation, so the adjustment should be made in accordance with the tax code.
2. Such adjustment under the tax code would support the efficient cash flow management and reduce the cost for coastal shipping transportation and the problems occurred from tax averaging for business that need to pay value added tax and the businesses that are exempt from paying value added tax.
The Cabinet has resolved to:
1. The Cabinet approved the Ministry of Interior’s procurement of blankets for those experiencing extreme cold weather in provinces declared by provincial governor as disaster zone, in accordance with the criteria set by Comptroller General’s Department.
2. Provincial Administration has been assigned to procure clothing to keep warm for those experience the extreme weather under the Ministry of Finance’s 2003 regulation on reserve for winter relief and its amendment. The procurement must be made from those authorised by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, with the price per unit being not over 180 Baht. In the event of insufficient fund, request for increase in budget can be made to the Comptroller general’s Department.
3. The Ministry of Interior has been assigned to coordinate with the private sector and charity foundations in purchasing blanket from the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation-authorised blanket manufacturers.
4. The Budget Bureau has been assigned to set the price per unit of blanket and the criteria for future purchases.
5. The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, through the Thai Meteorological Department, has been assigned to distribute the temperature devices to the potentially affected areas.
6. The Ministry of Interior has been ordered to hand over the procurement speedily.
7. An executive committee is to direct and follow the relief effort as well as to set up a coordination centre with authority to oversees the relief effort.
The Cabinet approved the change of name and the increase of the fund designated for the tsunami alert system in Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia, as proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
?1. The Cabinet approved the change of the name of the fund from,Tsunami Regional Trust Fund (Multi-Donor Voluntary Trust Fund on Tsunami Early Warning Arrangements in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia) to “ESCAP Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness in Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia Countries.”
2. The Cabinet has authorised the Minister of Foreign Affairs to sign on the agreement to change the name of the fund.
--Cabinet Meeting (Abhisit Vejjajiva) November 16, 2010--