The cabinet met on April 7, 2020 at the Government House. Some of the resolutions are as follows:
The cabinet approved in principle the draft Commerce Ministerial Regulation on barring of electronic waste import, B.E. …, as proposed by Ministry of Commerce.
1. Definition of “electronic waste”: parts/scrap components of electrical or electronic devices (excluding scrap components of power generators) which are capacitors and other types of batteries, mercury switches, cathode ray tubes/activated glass, capacitors which contain PCB/cadmium/mercury/lead, the chemical wastes stipulated under an Industry Ministerial Announcement on the List of Harzadous Substances, B.E. 2556.
2. Prohibition: E-wastes under HS Code #84 and #85 (only tariff statistic code #899) shall be banned from importing into the kingdom.
3. Judgment of government officials: In cases that e-wastes are suspected, Ministry of Commerce shall exercise judgment while taking into consideration suggestions of the Department of Industrial Works and the Customs Department.
The cabinet approved the draft Finance Ministerial Announcement on exemption of customs duties for goods imported for treatment, diagnosis, or prevention of COVID-19, as deliberated by Office of Council of State. Ministry of Finance may proceed accordingly.
The draft Announcement stipulates exemption of customs duties for goods imported for treatment, diagnosis, or prevention of COVID-19 regardless of HS codes, and amendment of effective period from “to be taken into effect the next day from the date announced in the Royal Gazette until September 30, 2020” to “to be taken into effect from March 26, 2020 until September 30, 2020”. This is to be in relevance with the Announcement of State of Emergency, dated March 25, 2020.
The cabinet approved in principle the 5-year project on quality enhancement of Ponoh schools under the royal intiative of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn (2020-2024). Under the projects, wide-ranging supports will be provided to ponoh schools, i.e., school buildings, equipments, and educational quality enhancement. Budget will be allocated on an annual basis. This is as proposed by Ministry of Education.
The 5-year project has been approved under the budget framework of 245.239 million Baht, 185.019 million of which is allocated for physical development (construction of school buildings, dormitories, equipment procurement, etc.), and the rest (60.220 million Baht) is allocated for academic and student capacity development.
The cabinet approved the proposal made by Ministry of Education to adjust 2020 school semesters as follows:
Schools are to delay the beginning of their 1st semester of 2020 from May 16, 2020 to July 1, 2020. Ministry of Education would adjust teaching and learning methods to be relevant with the curriculum set for each school grade/level, and would closely coordinate with Center for COVID-19 Situation Adminsitration on related matter.
The cabinet approved ratification of Convention on Road Traffic, 1968, and would like to raise a reservation on Article 54 (1) of the Convention as follows:
1. “The Kingdom of Thailand does not consider itself bound by the provisions of article 52 of the Convention on Road Traffic according to any dispute between two or more Contracting Parties which relates to the interpretation or application of the Convention may be referred, at the request of any one of the Parties, to the International Court of Justice.”
2. “Pursuant to the provisions of article 3(5) and article 54 (2) of the Convention on Road Traffic, the Kingdom of Thailand shall treat mopeds as motorcycles for the purpose of the application of the Convention”
Ministry of Foreign Affairs is assigned to ratify the Convention on Road Traffic, 1968 to UN Secretary General. Should there be an amendment in parts that are not against the principle approved by the cabinet, Ministry of Transport is to proceed and inform the cabinet later of the change.
The cabinet acknowledged the outcomes of 2019 APEC Concluding Senior Officials’ Meeting and 2020 Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting (ISOM), and assigned concerned agencies to proceed accordingly.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that Director-General of the Department of International Economic Affairs attended the 2019 APEC Concluding Senior Officials’ Meeting held on December 7, 2019 in the Republic of Singapore where 3 outcome documents have been adopted: 1) La Serena Roadmap for Women and Inclusive Growth (2019-2030); 2) APEC Roadmap on Marine Debris; and 3) APEC Roadmap on Combatting Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing. He also attended the 2020 Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting (ISOM), held on December 10-11, 2019 in Malaysia, to: 1) outline the policy focus of APEC in 2020. Malaysia proposed the overarching theme “Optimizing Human Potential towards a Future of Shared Prosperity”; 2) discuss Post-2020 Vision Recommendations; and 3) finalize APEC 2020 Notional Calendar.
The cabinet agreed that Thailand should start discussion process with concerned sectors to set a theme and key policies to be focused during the country’s APEC hosting in 2022, and that Thailand should work closely with Malaysia and New Zealand, APEC hosts of 2020 and 2021 respectively.
Source: Cabinet Meeting (Prayut Chan-o-cha) April 07, 2020