The cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 22 February 2012 has come to the following decision:
?The cabinet acknowledged and approved the Ministry of Finance’s proposal, as follows:
1. To acknowledge the Agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Union and Thailand pursuant to Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 relating to the modification of concessions with respect to processed poultry meat provided for in the EU Schedule annexed to GATT 1994. In case the aforementioned agreement, focusing on the unimportant section, needs to be amended, Ministry of Financeconsults with Department of Treaties and Legal Affairs in order to start the amendment process without proposing to the cabinet once again. After the amendment, the agreement has to be presented to the parliamentary meeting: Legislative session so that the parliament approves it before informing the EU. In so doing, the agreement is binding according to section 190 of the Constitution of Kingdom of Thailand.
2. To appoint ambassador of Thailand to Brussels: Head of the Mission of Thailand to the European Union or representative to act as Thai representative to sign the aforementioned agreement. Ministry of Foreign Affairs will authorize the representative with Full Powers.
The cabinet approved Thailand to host World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum 2556 according to the Prime Minister’s Office’s proposal. The Permanent Secretariat of the Prime Minister is assigned to take responsibility for managing the 2556 fiscal budget as the budget for organizing the event.
?The cabinet approved the extension of time period for excise tax reduction on “Diesel with lower than 0.03% by weight Sulfur” in tax rate of 0.005 Baht per Liter, and “Biodiesel:Ethyl Ester with more than 4% fatty acid” in tax rate of 0.005 Baht per Liter. This extension lasts for 1 month namely from March 1, 2012 to March 31, 2012 according to Ministry of Finance’s proposal.
?The cabinet acknowledged and approved Ministry of Industry’s proposal, as follows:
1. To allow Office of the Cane and Sugar Fund to borrow money from Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives so that cane farmers receive assistance money in production season 2554/2555 under the rate of 154 Baht per cane ton.
2. To approve the increase of domestic sugar price: 5 Baht per kilogram. Surplus from the increase turns to the Office of the Cane and Sugar Fund as money for paying back debt in order to lift cane price. Moreover, the cabinet appointedOffice of the Cane and Sugar Fund to inspect the process of assistance paymentfor eligible cane farmers according to Committee of the Cane and Sugar Fund’s resolution.
?The cabinet approved the Office of the Council of State and UN Women to establish Standard Letter of Agreement between UN Women and Office of the Council of State inThailand on the Implementation of Regional Programme on Improving Women’s Human Rights in Southeast Asia-Cedaw Phase II by inserting arbitration agreement in the aforementioned one according to Office of the Council of State’s proposal.
--Cabinet Meeting (Yingluck Shinawatra) February 22, 2012--