The Eastern Interregional Main Directorate of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection has imposed restrictions on the import of meat products from Thailand to Ukraine due to the registration of African swine fever (ASF) in that country, the agency’s press service reports.
According to an order of the Chief State Veterinary Inspector of Ukraine dated October 13, 2023, the ban applies to the import of animals belonging to the families of pigs, tayas and tapirs, as well as genetic material and products from animals of the listed families.
At the same time, the ban does not apply to products that have been processed by a method that guarantees the destruction of the causative agent of this disease in accordance with the requirements for the import (shipment) into the customs territory of Ukraine of food products of animal origin, feed, hay, straw, as well as by-products of animal origin and products of their processing, processing, approved by Order of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food No. 553 of November 16, 2018.
African swine fever (Montgomery’s disease) is a contagious viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, first recorded in 1903 in South Africa. It cannot be treated or vaccinated. The spread of the virus can only be stopped by quarantine measures.
ASF is not dangerous for humans, but it causes economic losses, as all animals in the infected area must be destroyed.
Thailand’s government on Tuesday approved a decision that all foreign tourists entering the country will be charged a fee of 150,300 baht – landing tax, local media reported.
“Thailand’s Cabinet has approved a decision to charge a tourist fee upon entering the country. The fee will range from 150 baht for those arriving at land borders to 300 baht 650 baht for those arriving at airports,” the newspaper said.
The tentative date for the fee is June 1, 2023.
It will not be paid by those entering Thailand on diplomatic passports and work permits. The fee will also not be charged for children under the age of two years and transit passengers who spend less than a day in the country.
The government has also instructed the Bureau of Immigration to introduce a rule whereby tourists will be able to use receipts for tourist fees from a previous trip when applying for a re-entry permit.
Minister of Tourism and Sports Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, speaking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting, explained that the fee will be used to promote domestic tourism and insurance while tourists are in Thailand.
This is not the first time the Thai authorities have announced plans to introduce a levy on foreign tourists. In January 2022 they announced their intention to introduce a fee in April of that year. Its size was also supposed to be 300 baht. Then the fee was postponed to January 1, 2023, but was again postponed, as opposed by representatives of the tourism business, fearing that its introduction will slow the recovery of foreign tourist traffic after the pandemic coronavirus.
Thai authorities will not impose a vaccination certificate requirement for foreign tourists to enter the country, announced January 7, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Monday.
The certificate requirement was supposed to take effect Monday and remain in effect until at least the end of January. However, Charnvirakul told reporters that proof of vaccination would not be required because all countries in the world sufficiently immunize their citizens. Under the new government decision, unvaccinated tourists will be able to enter Thailand without restrictions.
Thailand’s civil aviation authority said Saturday that starting Monday, Jan. 9, all arriving foreigners will have to prove they have been vaccinated or have had coronavirus within the past six months. This announcement was made on the eve of the opening of the borders by China, which since Jan. 8 has abolished PCR tests and quarantine for those entering.
The Department of Foreign Trade of Thailand has announced the final decision to extend for another five years antidumping duties on the import of certain types of hot-rolled steel from 14 countries, including Ukraine with a slight decrease.
According to Steel Orbis, this decision was made following the revision of antidumping restrictions on imports of these products from Japan, South Africa, Russia, Kazakhstan, India, South Korea, Venezuela, Argentina, Ukraine, Algeria, Indonesia, Slovakia, Romania and Taiwan.
The size of the duties is from 0% to 128.11%. At the same time, duties on deliveries from Ukraine will amount to 30.45%-67.69%, from the Russian Federation – 24.2%-35.17%, Kazakhstan – 68.11%-109.25%.
The duty revision procedure was launched in May 2020 following a complaint from local manufacturers.
According to the information of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, at present there are duties on the supply of hot-rolled products in coils and not in coils to Thailand produced by Illich steel mill (Metinvest Group) – 32.17%, other manufacturers – 71.52%.
The Ukrainian government has decided to optimize the issuance of electronic visas (e-Visas), including for citizens of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, according to the Ukrainian Embassy in Thailand.
“From November 1, 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine will start issuing Ukrainian electronic visas for citizens of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos under a new, modern and convenient procedure,” the embassy said on the Facebook page.
Thus, to apply for an electronic visa, you should register on the MFA web platform https://evisa.mfa.gov.ua/; fill out a questionnaire, upload a photo and scanned copies of documents (passport, invitation, etc.), pay the consular fee with a bank card; receive an e-Visa by e-mail (sent in the PDF format).
It is noted that to enter Ukraine, it is required to print out the received e-Visa and present it with the passport to the border authorities of Ukraine at the checkpoints across the state border.
An electronic visa is issued for a single or double entry to Ukraine for up to 30 days with a business, private, tourist purpose, for medical treatment, activities in the field of culture, science, education, sports, performance of official duties by a foreign journalist or a representative of a foreign media.
Ukraine became the largest supplier of grain to the Kingdom of Thailand and exported products worth more than $140 million in 2019, the press service of the Ukrainian Embassy in Thailand said.
The embassy said on its Facebook page that Ambassador of Ukraine to Thailand Andrii Beshta met with Director General of the Department of Trade Negotiations of the Ministry of Commerce of the Kingdom of Thailand Auramon Supthaweethum, during which the cooperation between the countries on trade and investment was discussed.
“Therefore, during the meeting, the parties discussed the implementation of the Trade Agreement signed in 2017 between the governments of Ukraine and Thailand, in particular, the importance of holding an inaugural meeting of the Joint Trade Commission and the Ukraine-Thailand Business Forum by the end of 2020,” the embassy said in the statement.
It is noted that Ukraine became the largest supplier of grain to Thailand and exported this type of product in the amount of more than $140 million over 2019. The total trade in goods and services between Ukraine and Thailand amounted to $570 million with a surplus of more than $116 million for Ukraine in 2019.
