20 Oct 2021 Mrs. Pimchanok Pittfield, Ambassador The Permanent Mission of Thailand to the World Trade Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva said the World Trade Organization (WTO) has released its latest study on the impact of COVID-19 on global trade. It was found that since COVID-19 start to spread Member States have implemented 384 trade measures related to COVID-19, including 248 trade facilitation measures, covering a total trade value of $291.3 billion. and 136 trade restrictions, covering $205 billion in trade. in this number It is a measure to limit exports to 114 measures, posing a major problem in solving the problem of the distribution of vaccines and other important medical products.
For trade measures that are not related to COVID-19 Between October 2020 and May 2021, it was found that 61 trade facilitation measures were implemented by member countries, lower than the 70 measures of trade facilitation. The facilitation measures have a commercial value of up to $445 billion. while the trade restriction measures have a trade value of only $127 billion. which shows that although members use measures to limit trade But trade facilitation measures have been introduced that cover higher trade values.
As for trade protectionism and countermeasures announced by member states between October 2020 and May 2021, the number was the lowest since 2012, with an average monthly start-up of 19.1 cases per month.
Mrs. Pimchanok said that at present, the expansion of production and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine There are still several major bottlenecks. There are also measures to limit the export of vaccines and raw materials. Including customs procedures that still hinder some vaccine raw materials, for example, some countries do not allow vaccine raw materials to pass green channels or vaccine samples sent for testing abroad must pass customs clearance as a common commodity , drug registration It takes a long time to apply for a license to sell, check out, post-approval changes, and expand the production process. change often And there are inconsistencies between countries and there are logistical problems in moving vaccines and related equipment such as lack of syringes and cold storage, etc., causing the production and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. around the world stopped There is inequality in access to vaccines. continually affecting trade and economic recovery of various countries
The WTO considers the review to reduce the duty rate on the aforementioned products. including international cooperation in solving bottlenecks Therefore, it is essential to promote the recovery of global trade going forward, with global trade expected to grow by 10.8% in 2021 and by 4.7% in 2022, but will depend on vaccine factors.
At present, import duty on products that are factors of production of COVID-19 vaccines of vaccine producing countries around the world, including Thailand, is still at a very high level. especially the necessary raw materials Import duties remain high in 23 of the 27 countries that produce the global COVID-19 vaccine, particularly Iran (11.9%), Cuba (10.3), Argentina (9.6%), Kazakh. India (8.9%) and India (8.5%), with Thailand having an average tax rate of 6.4%, the seventh highest among 27 vaccine producing countries. As for the production factor for the COVID-19 vaccine Thailand has a high import duty rate. as well as having a high proportion of imports such as bioreactor bags vaccine production equipment and raw materials for vaccines And Thailand is also taxing pure sucrose in solid form, which is the inactive ingredient of the COVID-19 vaccine, as high as 94%, second only to India, which imposes a 100% import duty on this product.
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