Japan's decision to revise its import tariff privileges is unlikely to affect Thai exports as the value of shipments under the system is already low, a trade official said.
Five countries -- Thailand, China, Mexico, Brazil and Malaysia -- will no longer enjoy low tariffs for certain exports to Japan in 2019 after Tokyo revises rules, according to a Nikkei report on Friday.
The Thai Foreign Trade Department, however, foresaw minimal impacts, as exports to Japan under the generalised system of preferences (GSP) are minimal, at 0.01% of all Thai exports, according to Thai media.
Director Adul Chotenisakorn said not many Thai exporters had taken advantage of the privileges.
In the first nine months of this year, exports under Japan's GSP were worth $12.79 million, or 0.08% of all Thai exports to Japan worth $15.11 billion, he said.
The privileges are not popular among Thai exporters because the country also has bilateral and multilateral trade pacts with Japan under two frameworks -- Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) and Asean-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (AJCEP).
Several thousands of goods are eligible under the two frameworks compared to 86 under GSP, he said.
The products applying for GSP privileges currently are rice pasta, followed by plywood, vegetables and fruits.
In the first nine months of this year, trade between the two countries stood at $38.21 billion, down 1.16% year on year.
Currently, 143 countries enjoying lower import tariffs to Japan under the preferential tariff framework will "graduate" upon reaching a certain level of economic development, or when they are classified as high-income economies by the World Bank for three consecutive years.
The Japanese Finance Ministry will add another rule excluding countries whose share of global exports is 1% or higher and whose income exceeds a given level for three straight years, the report said.
The change, which takes effect in fiscal 2019, will remove the five countries off the list of beneficiaries.
They together account for 30 billion yen ($272 million) of the 33 billion yen in revenue Japan loses from the tariff scheme, the Nikkei said.
Though the Finance Ministry plans a two-year transition period, the change might affect decisions by Japanese businesses.
India, Vietnam and Indonesia are among countries that will continue to benefit from tariff reductions and exemptions.
Chile and Argentina are expected to come off the list in the near future based on the existing graduation criteria.
The GSP, a form of support for developing economies, imposes minimal to no duties on selected industrial and other products.