On September 23, 2026, Thailand's Department of Foreign Trade (DFT) opened a public consultation on a draft Ministry of Commerce Notification that sets the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) administration and import licensing rules for three agricultural product categories imported under the Thailand-EFTA Free Trade Agreement. The consultation runs until October 22, 2026, and the draft is written to take effect on January 1, 2027.
The three categories, milk and cream, skimmed milk powder, and instant coffee, are the agricultural goods Thailand holds WTO Agreement on Agriculture market-access commitments for. The draft exempts them from a layer of older Ministry of Commerce import-control measures when they originate in and are shipped directly from an EFTA member state, giving importers a cleaner route to the preferential customs duties the FTA grants.
Which products are covered, and which EFTA states benefit?
The notification splits the covered goods into two schedules with different EFTA beneficiaries. Schedule 1 grants preferential customs duties to goods originating in all four EFTA member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland: milk and cream under HS 0401.20, prepared milk beverages under HS 2202.99, and skimmed milk powder under HS 0402.10. Schedule 2 grants the preference only to goods from Switzerland and Liechtenstein: instant coffee under HS 2101.11 and 2101.12.
The split tracks the bilateral tariff commitments Thailand negotiated in the FTA. Importers who source these products from EFTA states should map their HS subheadings against the two schedules now, because the eligible-origin difference for coffee is the detail most likely to catch a compliance desk off guard.
| Product | HS codes | Schedule | EFTA states eligible |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milk and cream | 0401.20.10, 0401.20.90 | 1 | All EFTA |
| Prepared milk beverages | 2202.99.10 to 2202.99.90 | 1 | All EFTA |
| Skimmed milk powder | 0402.10.41 to 0402.10.99 | 1 | All EFTA |
| Instant coffee | 2101.11.11 to 2101.12.99 | 2 | Switzerland, Liechtenstein |
What must importers do to claim the preferential duty?
To claim the preferential customs duty at Thai Customs, the importer must present two documents. First, an origin declaration made by the exporter, a forwarding agent, a customs broker, or an authorized person, in the format the Thailand-EFTA FTA specifies, stated on the commercial invoice or another commercial document to prove the goods originate in an EFTA member state. Second, a certificate of entitlement to total or partial tax exemption issued by the DFT or a state agency the Minister of Commerce designates.
The quantity for which the DFT issues certificates follows Thailand's WTO Agreement on Agriculture commitments, and the application rules and conditions are set by the Director-General of the DFT. The practical effect is a licensing gate: importers cannot access the in-quota preferential rate without first obtaining that certificate. Once the goods qualify, Clause 8 exempts them from the non-tariff import-control measures currently imposed under the Export and Import of Goods Act B.E. 2522 (1979), including Ministry of Commerce Notifications Nos. 27, 35, 39 and 44 (1983 to 1985), the milk-beverage and skimmed-milk-powder import regulations, a 1953 Royal Decree, and a 1962 Ministry of Economic Affairs notification. The FTA preference comes with a lighter non-tariff load, but only behind the certificate.
How does this fit the EFTA-Thailand FTA timeline?
The EFTA-Thailand FTA was signed on January 23, 2025 in Davos after ten negotiating rounds. Thailand's Cabinet approved it on June 2, 2026 and Parliament approved it on June 17, 2026; entry into force remains pending ratification. This draft notification is the implementing instrument that operationalizes Thailand's agricultural TRQ obligation under the FTA, and its January 1, 2027 effective date signals the timeline the Ministry of Commerce is working toward for the preference to be usable. Comments can be filed through the DFT website or the Central Legal System at law.go.th.
After the consultation closes on October 22, 2026, the DFT will prepare a summary of comments and a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) before proposing the draft to the Cabinet for approval and final issuance. Thai importers and businesses are expected to benefit from lower sourcing costs, while the supporting document flags that domestic producers and farmers may face competition from EFTA imports. Bilateral trade between Thailand and the EFTA states stood at USD 3.2 billion in 2023.
Continuous per-jurisdiction monitoring surfaces an implementing consultation like this the moment a regulator posts it, before the preference window opens.
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What to do next:
- Submit comments by October 22, 2026 via the DFT website or the Central Legal System at law.go.th.
- Map your HS subheadings to Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 and confirm the eligible origin, especially for coffee sourced from Norway or Iceland.
- Prepare for the certificate-of-entitlement process with the DFT before the January 1, 2027 effective date.
- Brief sourcing and customs teams on the non-tariff exemptions that apply once the preference is claimed.
Obsidian tracks this consultation through to the final notification, so your team acts on the published text, not the draft.
