NGV bus provider 'made false declaration'

The first batch of 100 of all 489 air-conditioned NGV buses arrive at Laem Chabang airport. (Photo courtesy Bestlin Group)

The Customs Department has ruled all 489 air-conditioned NGV buses imported by Bestlin Group, the company contracted to procure a 489-unit bus fleet for the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, came from China, not Malaysia as declared.

The ruling came after a dispute over the first 100 buses which arrived at Laem Chabang port nearly two weeks ago, when the importer claimed they were made in Malaysia.

As a result, Bestlin Group will not be eligible for the 40% import duty exemption under the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) and will have to pay a fine equal to two times the tax due for each 2.95-million-baht bus.

The company on Tuesday informed the Customs Department it would place a guarantee for the outstanding tax payment for the first 100 NGV buses so that it could clear them out of Laem Chabang port and install the GPS system and other equipment. The company is due to deliver the first batch of the 489 NGV buses to the BMTA on Dec 29 or face a fine of 17,000 baht per bus per day.

Customs Department director-general Kulit Sombatsiri said Bestlin Group would be required to pay 718 million baht in import duty for all 489 buses, plus a 230-million-baht fine for the 100 falsely declared buses.

The company admitted that it had misunderstood the import information provided by the Malaysian supplier. Once it paid the due tax and fine, authorities could release the buses in the next few days.

The first lot of 100 buses, which arrived at Laem Chabang port on Dec 1, were imported with a document asserting the vehicles originally came from an Asean country, or the so-called "Form D", which means the buses would be exempt from import duty.

Beslin Group chairman Kanis Srivachiraprapha earlier said when the purchase was made, a Malaysian automaker, R&A Commercial Vehicle Sdn Bhd, which supplied the buses to Bestlin, affirmed that more than 40% of the auto parts used to assemble a bus were made in Malaysia, the condition in line with the tax exemption under Afta. The form was issued by Malaysia’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

The Thai Customs Department on Tuesday established that R&A Commercial Vehicle had imported the 100 buses, all fully assembled in China, via Norinco New Energy Co before shipping them to Thailand.

The amount, price and weight and chassis number of the buses which the Malaysian supplier purchased from China matched those shipped to Thailand, the department’s statement said.

Super Zara Co, an affiliate of Beslin, which handled the import procedure, has not yet submitted an import declaration for the remaining buses, 145 of them having arrived at Laem Chabang on Dec 7, therefore an offence of making false declaration of imported goods has not taken place, the agency said.

Mr Kulit said the importer would declare the remaining 359 buses as goods manufactured in China and pay a normal 40% import duty, as well as the value-added tax for them.

The BMTA first started procuring the buses powered by natural gas for vehicle 14 years ago but the project has been mired in corruption scandals.