What should a Customs Brokerage Agreement include under Thai law?

1. Definitions and Interpretation
2. Appointment and Authority
3. Product Data, Classification and Valuation
4. Documents and Lodgement
5. Permits and Restricted Goods
6. Duties and Taxes
7. Privileges, Refunds and Deadlines
8. Customs Queries and Audits
9. Records
10. Fees and Payment
11. Taxes and Stamp Duty
12. Liability
13. Anti-Corruption
14. Confidentiality and Personal Data
15. Force Majeure
16. Term and Termination
17. Notices
18. Governing Law and Disputes
19. General

• The Broker's services are treated as a hire of work (Instrument 4 of the Stamp Duty Schedule). Duty is 1 THB for every 1,000 THB or part of 1,000 THB of the Fees. On the Contract Value you entered, the duty on the original is the amount the system calculates from the figures entered, and each counterpart carries the amount the system calculates from the figures entered. The Broker pays it (Clause 11.3). If the Fees actually received exceed the Contract Value, more duty becomes payable when they are received.
• The Power of Attorney in the Customs form carries its own duty (Instrument 7: 10 THB for one occasion, 30 THB for more than one), which the Client pays. Because this Agreement also appoints the Broker as the Client's agent, a small fixed duty for the appointment of an agent may apply (Instrument 21: 10 THB for a specific appointment, 30 THB for a general one). Ask your accountant whether it applies.
• If the Contract Value is 1,000,000 THB or more, the duty must be paid in money to the Revenue Department instead of by affixing stamps. An unstamped agreement cannot be used as evidence in a Thai civil court until the duty and a surcharge of up to six times the duty are paid (Revenue Code section 118).

• The Broker's Fees are normally subject to VAT at the standard rate. Duties and Taxes paid to Customs in the Client's name are not the Broker's income, so ask for official receipts in the Client's name (Clause 10.2); import VAT on those receipts can then be claimed by a VAT-registered Client as input tax.
• A Thai company or juristic person that pays the Fees normally withholds 3% (Revenue Department Order Tor.Por. 4/2528, clause 12/1). Do not withhold on Disbursements that are passed on at cost.

• Check the Broker's registration with the Customs Department and fill in its number in the Agreement. Sign the Power of Attorney in the Customs form, limited to customs formalities for your own goods (Clause 2.2).
• You chose to decide the tariff classification, value and origin yourself (Clause 3.1). The Broker must warn you in writing if something looks wrong; keep those warnings and your decisions.You chose that the Broker proposes the classification of each new product (Clause 3.1). Approve each proposal in writing only after checking that the product information you gave is complete and accurate.
• You pay Duties and Taxes directly (Clause 6.1). Make sure your Customs e-payment account has enough funds before goods arrive, or storage charges will build up.The Broker advances Duties and Taxes up to … per Declaration, and you reimburse within … days (Clause 6.1). Larger amounts must be funded in advance.

• Under Thai customs law, the importer or exporter remains responsible to Customs for the Duties and Taxes and for false declarations, even when a broker lodges the declaration. In some cases Customs may also look to the Broker. Clause 12 decides who bears the cost between the Parties: the Broker pays for its own errors, but never for Duties and Taxes that were correctly payable.
• Customs may audit declarations after the goods have been released, sometimes years later. Keep your own records for the period that customs law requires (Clause 9.2), and keep the Broker's classification register (Clause 3.5).

• Never agree to "tea money" or any unofficial payment to speed up release. It is a criminal offence for the payer and can also make a company liable if it has no adequate internal controls. Clause 13 lets either Party terminate immediately if this happens.

• A company should sign through the director or directors authorised in its latest company affidavit, with the company seal if the affidavit requires one.
• Keep the signed Agreement, the Power of Attorney, every Declaration, Customs receipt, approval email, invoice and payment slip.
• A Thai court works in Thai. A Party that relies on this Agreement or on English documents in a Thai court must file certified Thai translations.

Compiled from the notes that accompany the English contract templates on this site, published by Phuwara Krobtaku (ภูวรา ครอบตะคุ), Thai attorney-at-law, licence no. 477/2558. The short answer and summary at the top of this page are put together by the site from the template's clause headings and notes. Statutes are quoted only in the official Thai text: Thai is the only official language of Thai legislation, and an unofficial translation can mislead. Article registry OKC-C86485. If you reuse this content, please credit the author and link to the original.