Customs Department, 'Chulaphan' orders monitoring of TEMU, a giant Chinese platform. The Customs Department seized illegal goods smuggled to evade taxes, not up to TIS standards, worth more than 46.71 million baht.Mr. Chulaphan Amornvivat, Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. Surachat Thienthong, Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. Thirach Attanavanich, Director-General of the Customs Department, held a press conference, 'Customs accelerates prevention and suppression of substandard goods and goods that are dangerous to society, worth more than 46.71 million baht.'Due to the current order of products via online platforms, imported from abroad in large quantities, especially low-priced products and products that are not of good quality, lacking TIS standards, there is concern that there will be problems for the people who use them because the products are almost unusable. The Prime Minister and Mr. Pichai Chunhavajira, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, have ordered the Customs Departmen t to strictly control the importation for sale, which products that are not up to standard are not permitted to be imported for sale from the Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI).The Ministry of Finance has ordered the Customs Department, led by Mr. Thirach Attanavanich, Director-General of the Customs Department, to implement temporary measures while waiting for the Revenue Department to amend the law to collect VAT on products with a price per package of less than 1,500 baht, including integrating the TEMU platform and new platforms into the Thai tax base system, which has been in effect since July 5, 2024, to create fairness for vendors located in the country. It is expected that early next year, around March 2024, the Revenue Department will complete the development of the system and will collect taxes on online products directly.Currently, many government agencies are working together to accelerate the development of Thai entrepreneurs to compete with products from China and abroad by developin g labor skills, reducing production costs with cheaper electricity, and taking care of dumping. Meanwhile, customs strictly controls the inspection of goods, emphasizing 100% X-raying of containers and inspecting import sources and distribution centers for products that do not meet TIS standards because they can be dangerous to domestic users. In the past, the Customs Department has requested a court warrant to search and seize substandard products from warehouses storing goods waiting to be sold in large quantities. It has also increased the rate of random inspection of containers to prevent substandard products from leaving the custody of the Customs Department before receiving permission from the Thai Industrial Standards Institute, Ministry of Industry. It also places great importance on preventing and suppressing products that are harmful to health and a threat to society, such as drugs, cigarettes, and e-cigarettes, including integrating with the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) to prevent and suppres s technology crimes, especially fraud via social media and call center crime groups. It has ordered continuous integration of intelligence.Source: Thai News Agency