Nontariff Barriers
Import licenses are required for a limited range of products including certain chemical and pharmaceutical
products, including clenbuterol, albuterol or salbutamol; unfinished garments, parts, or components
except collars, cuffs, waistbands, pockets, and cuffs for trousers; worked monument or building stone;
used automobiles, including cars, motorcycles and six-wheeled buses having 30 seats or more; certain
used diesel engines; machinery and parts that can be used to violate copyrights via cassette tape, video
tape and compact disc; intaglio printing machines and color copier machines; waste and scraps of plastic;
chainsaws and accessories; fish meal with protein content less than 60 percent; caffeine; and potassium
permanganate. Imports of used motorcycle parts and gaming machines are prohibited. Import licenses
for used automobiles and used motorcycles are granted only for imports intended for re-export or for
individual, non-commercial use. Imports of certain minerals, arms and ammunition, and art objects
require special permits from the relevant ministries.
Although Thailand has been relatively open to imports of feed ingredients, including corn, soybeans, and
soybean meal, U.S. industry reports that the government has maintained excessively burdensome import
requirements for feed products containing dairy ingredients. Nontransparent tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on
some products of export interest to the United States include non-fat dry milk and corn. Thailand
imposes domestic purchase requirements for several TRQ products, including soybeans and soybean
meal. It also applies a limited import window for its corn TRQ.
Thailand bans all motorcycles from highways even though heavyweight motorcycles are designed for
highway use, most countries accept their use, and many traffic studies demonstrate there is no underlying
safety rationale for such bans.