Duty Drawback under Section 19 bis of the Customs Act

Drawback under Section 19 bis of the Customs Act (No.9) B.E. 2482 means the refund of import duty already paid on imported goods which have undergone production, mixing, assembling, or packing and then exported within one year from the date of importation. The importer may place a bank guarantee or a guarantee issued by the Ministry of Finance in lieu of the payment of import duty. The refund is administered after the exportation or destruction of either the imported/substituted product or article that has been manufactured from the imported/substituted product.

1. Criteria and Conditions for Drawback

• The claim for drawback on the imports must not be prohibited by the Ministerial Regulations;
• The quantity of the imports used in producing, mixing, assembling, or packing exports shall be in compliance with the criteria approved or notified by Customs;
• The imports are exported through a port or place of exit designated for a drawback scheme;
• The imports are exported within 1 year from the date of importation of the goods used in producing, mixing, assembling the exports or packing the exports into the country;
• A claim for drawback must be made within 6 months from the date of exportation of goods, unless the time limits for exportation are extended as the reasons are deemed by Customs to be valid.

2. Drawback Procedure

2.1 Seeking Approval for Drawback

• The importer submits a letter of intent for drawback under Section 19 bis (Customs Form No. 29) to the Customs office at the port where the drawback is to be taking place, together with 2 certified copies of the following documents:
  1. Value-added tax registration document;
  2. Juristic person registration or commercial registration documents;
  3. A certification of the Ministry of Commerce indicating the purpose of the authorized juristic person, and company’s address; and
  4. A valid factory operation permit.

  Approval of a letter of intent may be obtained within 3 working days together with an importer identification code if the letter of intent complies with the drawback law and regulations. The approval will be sent to the importer in the next working day.

Important Notice: It is required that the letter of intent for drawback be filed and approved before the importation.

2.2 Submission of Production Formula

Production formula means a document detailing quantity of raw materials used for producing or manufacturing goods which are used in calculating raw material stock account for drawback. To submit the production formula, the following rules and conditions must be observed:

• The production formula is to be used by entrepreneurs or drawback claimers;
• Prior to the exportation, the importer is required to submit, to the Drawback Unit of a relevant Customs office, an application for production formula (Customs Form No. 96) with the lists of raw materials; lists of products or manufactured goods; production process; the quantity of raw materials to be used, including wastes (if any); samples of raw materials; samples of finished products;
• In case where it is necessary to examine a production process at a manufacture site, the importer must allow Customs officers to visit the site as appointed; and
• Approval of the application for production formula will be obtained within 30 working days from the date of receiving all documents required by the drawback law and regulation.

2.3 Exportation of Goods

The imported goods under a drawback scheme must be exported within 1 year from the date of importation of raw materials. In addition to the documents required for normal export processes, the exporter under the drawback scheme is required to submit the documents and follow the instructions listed below:

• Attachment to the Export Declaration Form (Customs Form No.113) declaring all required particulars;
• A packing list;
• An invoice;
• Check the box indicating “Drawback under Section 19 bis”;
• Declare the name of Customs office/house where the drawback is taking place;
• In case where Customs does not required samples of finished products, the exporter must check the box indicating “Exempted from Submission of Samples”

2.4 Claim for Drawback or Withdrawal of Bank Guarantee

A drawback claim or withdrawal of bank guarantee must be submitted to the Drawback Unit within 6 months from the date of exportation. The documents required are as follows:

• A Drawback Application under Section 19 bis (Customs Form No. 111) and its Attachment indicating the numbers of both the Import and Export Declaration Forms;
• A valid specimen signature card of the owner or manager issued by Customs;
• A valid specimen signature card of the authorized person issued by Customs;
• A registration certificate of the Ministry of Commerce, detailing and indicating the purpose of the juristic person; and
• A Value-Added Tax Registration.

In addition, the documents listed below are also required in checking raw material inventory for the drawback claim:

• An Attachment to the Import Declaration Form (Customs Form No.99 kor) or a copy of the Import Declaration Form (Customs Form 99/1) processed under a Drawback EDI system
• An Attachment to the Export Declaration Form of drawback type
• A copy of relevant production formula
• A Drawback Report generated by computer consisting of:
  1. Report of each Import Declaration Form;
  2. Report of each Export Declaration Form;
  3. Summary report on the total number of Import Declaration Forms and the total refunded amount;
  4. Summary report on the total number of Export Declaration Forms and the total refunded amount; and
  5. Summary report on the quantity and type of raw materials granted a refund (in case of withdrawal of bank guarantee).