The World Trade Organization will create a second panel to evaluate the cigarette tax issue between the Philippines and Thailand upon Manila’s prodding.
A WTO statement said the Philippines submitted a revised request for dispute consultations with Thailand to address the latter’s compliance with a previous ruling on taxes imposed by Thailand on imported cigarettes from the Philippines.
The global body circulated the request on February 26, 2018.
The revised request effectively replaced and superseded the initial one circulated on July 6, 2017 in order to expand the scope of the consultations.
The revised request includes a number of notices of assessment issued by Thailand’s customs authority with respect to imports of cigarettes between 2001 and 2003.
The request is the second compliance proceeding initiated by the Philippines in the dispute. A WTO panel is currently reviewing Thailand’s compliance as part of separate proceedings initiated by the Philippines in 2016.
The case raised against Thailand involved Thai fiscal and customs measures affecting cigarettes from the Philippines that included customs valuation practices, excise tax, health tax, TV tax, VAT regime, retail licensing requirements and import guarantees imposed on cigarette importers.
The Philippines claimed that Thailand administered the measures in an unreasonable manner.
Manila noted that after more than a decade since the dispute arose, Thailand had not taken significant steps to comply with the WTO rulings.
Thailand took a number of positive steps to remove some of the inconsistent measures but also introduced new measures that were inconsistent with the WTO rulings, the Philippine panel said.
These include new criminal charges against a Thai importer and its employees involving 272 entries of cigarettes that cleared Thai Customs between July 28, 2003 and June 24, 2006, as well as notices of assessment for underpayment of taxes and duties of over $800 million on 1,052 entries imported in 2001-2003.