WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SCM/Q3/THA/21
12 May 2003
(03-2505)
Committee on Subsidies
and Countervailing MeasuresOriginal:  English
IDENTIFICATION OF MISSING ITEMS AND FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS
TO THE REPLIES BY THAILAND TO QUESTIONS POSED BY VARIOUS
DELEGATIONS REGARDING THE BOARD OF INVESTMENT PROGRAMME
The following communication, dated 8 May 2003, has been received from the Permanent
Delegations of Australia;  Canada;  European Communities;  Japan;  Switzerland;  Peru;  the
United States and Venezuela.
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We appreciate the efforts made so far by Thailand to respond to the questions posed in
G/SCM/Q3/THA/18, with respect to the Board of Inve stment Programme.  However, in our view, the
responses provided so far, in G/SCM/Q3/THA/20 (23 April 2003), are incomplete and do not providea sufficient factual basis for an informed assessment of the BOI’s programmes.  We recall that
Thailand committed, as a condition for the granting of the extension, until 31 December 2003, for the
elimination of export subsidies taking the form of the exemption from corporate income tax under
BOI, to make every effort to submit all of the additional information referred to in document
G/SCM/Q3/THA/18, not later than 15 April 2003.
Missing Items
Q2. Phase-out profile of non-joint venture projects (cf ‘Annex 5' to G/SCM/Q3/THA/17).
Observation: The response referred to the phase-out profile of both joint venture and non-joint 
venture projects.  Please provide the phase-out profile for non-joint venture projects only.
Q5(a) A specific description of the product(s) produced under the project during the period 1
January 2001 through 31 December 2002.
Observation: The information provided is at a sectoral or higher level, it is not at a product specific 
level.
Q5(b) The HTS number (at least at the 4-digit level) for each of the products produced under
the project during the period 1 January 2001 through 31 December 2002.
Q5(c) If a production facility is subject to more  than one BOI project, please indicate which
other rows of the spreadsheet relate to the same production facility.
Q5(e) The value, in US Dollars, of the products  produced under the project which were sold in
the Thai domestic market during calendar year 2001 and during calendar year 2002.G/SCM/Q3/THA/21
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Q5(h) The percentage of production which is required to be exported under the project.
Observation: Footnote 1 states “the average 80 per cent of production is required to be exported 
under the above projects”, but does not provide the export performance percentage 
required for each individual project.
Q5(j) A description of any benefits, other than income tax exemption, provided for under the
project.  Please indicate which of these benefits were actually granted during the period 1
January 2001 through 31 December 2002.
Q5(k) Whether the project relates to a joint-venture entitled to benefit from the process of
removal of export requirements referred to in question 1.
Follow-up Questions
According to the response to question 1, on 8 April 2003, Thailand’s Board of Investment
decided to remove the export requirement from all but 178 projects.
• Is the decision by the BOI the only necessary pr ocess and hence sufficient to eliminate legally
the export requirement for those projects?  When did this elimination formally become
effective?
• Is there a difference in the treatment of joint and non-joint venture projects with respect to the
BOI’s action?  If so, please describe.
According to the response to question 1, the BO I decided to form a working group to study the
economic impact which would result from the elimination of the export requirement for the remaining78 projects by the end of 2005.
• When does the working group expect to complete its study?  Will the working group prepare
a report describing its findings and conclusions?
According to the response to question 5, it is stated  that information for question 5(b) is not available,
as the BOI does not use HTS numbers to classify its activities.
• Did Thailand request the HTS numbers from project beneficiaries in its questionnaires?According to remark 3, with  respect to the table prepared in response to question 5, it is stated “(*)
Value of export or/and tax exemption of the year 2002 are not yet available due to the vary fiscal yearof each company.  The mentioned information should be ready by the end of 2003.”  However,
project number 55 appears to be the only project identified with an “(*)”.
• Did Thailand intend to identify any other projects for which the export or tax exemption
information for the year 2002 is not yet available.  If so, please identify.
• Please explain why no export or tax exemption information was provided for the year 2002,
for any  reason other than different fiscal year.
According to remark 4, with  respect to the table prepared in response to question 5, it is stated “(N.A.)
means:  4.1 The company does not return the questionnaire requesting information on value of export
and tax exemption.  4.2 The company has not yet started its operation.”G/SCM/Q3/THA/21
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• Please disaggregate the projects that have not yet started operation from the projects for
which the questionnaire was not returned, in the table, in order to allow us to have a clear
picture as to which projects have not yet started operations.
In reviewing the information provided in the table prepared in response to question 5, we note that all
projects have an expiry date of export requirement that extends beyond the expiry date of export
subsidy.
• Please describe any consequences that may be imposed, for projects which fail to satisfy
export performance requirements.  Are such consequences discretionarily or mandatorily
applied by Thailand?
• If a project fails to satisfy an export performance requirement, may the Thai authorities deem
a prior year’s income tax exemption to be void and retroactively levy income tax on the
project?  If so, please describe in detail how the amount of forfeiture of such prior year
advances of the subsidy is determined and levied.
• Please provide the number and phase-out schedule of export performance requirements for
projects by sector (as was done for the phase out of income tax exemption in the reply to
question 3), including any projects for which the subsidies are no longer being provided, if the
projects are still subject to export performance requirements.
• Please provide the number and phase-out schedule of export performance requirements for
projects by the following sectors:  motor vehicles for transport of goods, air conditioning,
rubber, textiles, clothing, and footwear (as was done for the phase out of income tax
exemption in the reply to question 3), including any projects for which the subsidies are no
longer being provided, if the projects  are still subject to export performance requirements.
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