Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Peace Independence Democracy Unity Prosperity
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Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Permanent Secretary Office No.0227/PSO
Vientiane 01 February 2014
Notification
Attend to: Heads of Provincial and Vientiane Capital City Agricultural Office and All Concerned Parties
Subject: Phytosanitary Import Requirement of Thailand for Dried Tobacco Leaves (Nicotiana tabacum) Exported from Lao People’s Democratic Republic
- Pursuant to the Plant Protection Law No 06/NA dated 09/12/2008
- Pursuant to the Decree of Prime Minister No 229/PM dated 31/05/2012 on the Implementation of Plant Protection Law
- Pursuant to the Notification of the Department of Agriculture of Thailand BE 2556 dated 11/12/2013.
- Pursuant to the proposal of agriculture department dated 13/01/2014.
In order to facilitate and ensure the phytosanitary business and for the exporter taking appropriate measures for the export of dried tobacco leaves from Lao PDR without any negative impact on the international market for Lao agricultural commodities so that it can be compliant with international phytosanitary regulations and import requirements of the destination countries, the Permanent Secretary Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) hereby gives notice of the conditions that have to be met before exporting dried tobacco leaves from Lao PDR to the Kingdom of Thailand as follows:
1. Import permit
- An Import permit issued by the Department of Agriculture of Thailand is required.
2. Means of Conveyance
- Dried tobacco leaves must be exported from a port in Lao PDR to a designated port in Thailand by truck-cargo or ship-cargo.
3. Phytosanitary Import Requirement
- Dried tobacco leaves shall be free from two pests regulated by Thailand including Ascochyta blight of cotton (Ascochyta gossypii) and Verticillium wilt of Lucerne (Verticillium alboatrum).
- It shall not be infested with live insects or living organisms that can potentially quarantinable pests of concern to Thailand and contaminated soils, sand and other contaminants.
- Containers or packaging materials used for carrying dried tobacco leaves shall be new and clean.
- Vehicles, before using for transport of dried tobacco leave, shall be cleaned and found to be free from soil, sand and other plant parts that have the potential to carry quarantinable pests and cover sheets must be used to protect the consignment during transportation.
- A Certificate from the competent public or private organizations indicating that the dried leave tobacco is a GMO-free product is required.
4. Phytosanitary Certification
- An original phytosanitary certificate issued by the Plant Protection officer authorized by by the National Plant Protection Organization of Lao PDR (Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) is required to accompany each consignment of dried tobacco leaves exported from Lao PDR to Thailand.
- The Phytosanitary certificate shall have a description as an additional declaration as follows:
“The consignment of dried tobacco leaves was inspected and found free from Ascochyta gossypii and Verticillium alboatrum”.
5. Inspection on arrival in Thailand
- When the dried tobacco leaves reach the entry port of Thailand, it shall be subject to phytosanitary inspection after verifying all documents accompanying the consignment.
- Taking sample of tobacco leaves and inspection of insect pests will be carried out by a Plant quarantine officer. If a live insect is intercepted, the sample will be sent to the recognized laboratory to identify the species and the dried tobacco leaves will confined until the results from the laboratory is received.
- In the case of presence of the 2 regulated pests or other organisms that has the potential to be a quarantinable pest in Thailand, all infested dried tobacco leaves should be treated with appropriate methods where treatment is available or re-exported to the place of origin or destroyed, and the owner of the consignment must be responsible for those costs.
- The Department of Agriculture of Thailand has the right to temporary suspend the import of dried tobacco leaves from LAO PDR until the risk of intercepted insect pests is definitely resolved.
6. Dissemination of information and public awareness.
- The Provincial and Vientiane Capital Agricultural and Forestry Offices that have a plant protection border post for export to Thailand should disseminate the information contained in this notice to local administrative authorities and all relevant sectors in particularly producers, entrepreneurs and border authorities for their attention concerning the requirement for inspection for infested tobacco, import conditions of the destination country, application procedures for import-export permit, and phytosanitary certificate required for facilitating the export of dried tobacco leaves to Thailand in consistence with the rules and regulations of the destination country.
Therefore, all concerned sectors are informed to execute this Notification effectively.
Director of Permanent Secretary Office
(Signed and sealed)
Khamphanh Meuansithida
CC:
- MAF minister 1 (for information and report)
- MAF Deputy Minister
- Permanent secretary office of MOIC
- Permanent secretary office of Ministry of Finance (Custom Dept)
- All department of MAF (For info)
- DIMEX, MOIC
- Department of commodity promotion
- Department of foreign trade policy
- Filling
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