Following the Notification of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) re: Determination of Goods Infringing Trademark and/or Copyright to be Prohibited for Export, Import and Transit through the Kingdom (Notification) which became effective at the end of July 2022, the Customs Department issued the Announcement of the Customs Department No. 106/2565 re: Control of Export, Import and Transit of Goods Infringing Trademark and Copyright (Announcement) on 27 July 2022, which then became effective just two days later on 29 July 2022. The Announcement serves to provide criteria, procedures and conditions regarding Customs recordal. The key issues include the following:

• In order to enable the inspection of suspect goods, owners of trademarks and/or copyrights are permitted to directly notify the Customs Department of their trademark or copyright particulars (Customs recordal).

• Right owners, who have already recorded their Thai-registered trademarks under the Current Regulations with the Department of Intellectual Property, are required to re-record the same with the Customs Department following the Announcement regarding Customs recordal.

• Customs recordal is valid for 3 years and is renewable.

As the Announcement was only recently confirmed, it remains to be seen how this system can protect trademarks/copyrights at the borders, and if any difficulties may arise. We will continue to keep an eye on it and will provide further updates as appropriate.