The Customs Department has seized almost 45 tonnes of imported oranges falsely declared as produce of China in order to avoid paying tariffs.
The products were actually from Spain and Egypt, but importers declared them as shipped to Leam Chabang port from China, which means they would be duty-free under the Asean-China Free Trade agreement.
Director-general Kulit Sombatsiri said that on May 16, Nine Enterprise and Trading Limited Partnership sought customs clearance for imports of 20.8 tonnes of fresh mandarin oranges from Hong Kong, China, with a declared value of 486,912 baht.
Officials found that the product, mandarins, and weight were correct, but that stickers identifying the country of origin as Espana (Spain) had been removed and replaced with “Product of China” stickers.
Also, Watchamon Food Co wanted to import 24 tonnes of navel oranges worth 562,384 baht by declaring it as shipped from Hong Kong, China to Thailand. It also claimed privileges under the Asean-China FTA to get a waiver of import duty.
A product inspection revealed that the actual country of origin was Egypt.
Mr Kulit said these two importers had intended to avoid paying the legal tariff, which would be over 60% of the value.
He said the seized oranges also did not pass quarantine inspection.
The department had detected an increasing incidence of importers falsely declaring the country of origin of fruit, so strict inspections would be introduced to prevent loss of legal state revenues.
For example, it had seized grapes imported from the USA but declared as coming from China.
Legal action will be taken against importers who make false declarations, and their goods will be seized. he said.