Customs to toughen penalties for fake-origin exports

Customs prepares tougher action, including seizure

Phantong Loykulnanta, director-general of the Customs Department, said the department is preparing to tighten penalties for exporting goods that falsely declare their origin, making enforcement “more severe and decisive”.

He said past enforcement on the export side has been constrained because exports are not subject to import duties, meaning cases often fall under customs procedure violations or false origin declarations, which carry relatively light penalties and are frequently settled through fines without seizing the goods.

“Outbound goods are not subject to duty, so Customs is considering increasing the penalty rate so that exporting goods with falsified origin carries higher penalties, by adjusting the criteria to allow the goods to be seized immediately,” Phantong said.

Rule changes targeted for 2026, not a major legal overhaul

Phantong said the planned changes would not involve a major legislative amendment, but would instead revise operational rules and procedures. The department plans to issue a package covering multiple product categories, including transhipment goods, e-cigarettes, and cannabis, with the aim of completing the revisions and enforcing them within 2026.

Seizures rise 160% as agencies coordinate

Phantong said closer work with the Department of Foreign Trade has delivered tangible results. From October 2025 to February 2026, Customs seized goods linked to evasion of anti-dumping (AD) duties worth 109.92 million baht, and transhipment goods with falsified origin worth 393.36 million baht—a combined economic impact of more than 503 million baht.

He said seizures involving transhipment goods rose 160% from the same period a year earlier.

Watchlist targets operators with no factory licence or production

Customs will focus on operators with suspicious patterns, particularly those without a factory licence (Ror.Ngor.4) or without any production process in Thailand, but who import and export goods under the same customs tariff classification—a key indicator of transhipment.

He also said networks have shifted to importing through standard channels rather than using Free Zones, after Free Zones came under closer scrutiny by authorities.

Phantong said Customs has a watchlist of high-risk operators and has updated it and shared it with the Department of Foreign Trade.

Foreign Trade warns of US scrutiny and retroactive duty risk

Arada Fueangthong, director-general of the Department of Foreign Trade, said major trading partners—especially the United States—are closely watching transhipment risks, particularly cases where goods not produced in Thailand are falsely labelled “Made in Thailand” for export to the US.

She warned that if state agencies do not coordinate and enforce checks decisively, it could damage Thailand’s trade credibility and increase the risk that the US views Thailand as a route for tariff evasion—raising the danger of retroactive duties.

C/O approvals to tighten as watchlist expands to 65 items

Arada said watchlist information from Customs will be used to strengthen scrutiny and approval of certificates of origin (C/O). The monitoring list currently covers 49 product items, but officials are preparing to expand it to 65 items to align with cooperation with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Statistics cited by officials show the top high-risk product groups frequently involved in transhipment to the US market include communications equipment and transmitters (13%), dog or cat food (10%), antenna equipment (9.30%), and solar cells (7.30%).

Officials said expanding watchlists and sharing data across agencies is a proactive step to strengthen trade confidence and reduce the risk of trace-back investigations or retroactive duty claims that could harm Thailand’s reputation and legitimate exporters.