On July 19, 2024, Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health Notification No. 450 B.E.2567 (2024) came into effect after being published in the Government Gazette the day before. The notification introduces significant updates to the labeling requirements for prepackaged foods. This new regulation consolidates and updates Thailand’s rules for food labeling by repealing and replacing several previous notifications. The notification’s key changes and their implications for food businesses are identified below. 1. Clarified “Best Before” Definition The notification aligns the definition of “best before” with Codex standards. It now refers to the date marking the end of the period during which the food maintains its best quality under stated storage conditions. After this date, food quality may change, and the product cannot be marketed. 2. Updated Labeling Exceptions Certain foods are exempt from labeling requirements, with the latest list including: Foods sold directly to consumers by manufacturers who can provide product information. Unprocessed foods. Some fresh foods not sold directly to consumers. Prepackaged foods produced and sold for immediate consumption in food service settings. However, any of these exempt foods that have received food serial numbers must still have labels that comply with the notification. 3. Expiration Date and Best-Before Date Display The notification provides clearer language for displaying the expiration date and best-before date. If specific wording is required by other notifications, it must be followed. English equivalents are now permitted alongside Thai text. 4. Warning Displays Multiple applicable warnings can now be consolidated and displayed together, provided the complete message is included as specified. 5. Claims about Substances or Ingredients New guidelines have been established for making claims about food additives and ingredients. Claims should be factual, not deceptive, and provably not false. 6. Label Placement and Design Labels must be permanently affixed, proportionate to the packaging, and prominently displayed. 7. Display of Trademarks Symbols related to trademarks or registered trademarks can be displayed with English symbols or

Tilleke & Gibbins has contributed the Thailand chapter to the 2024 edition of Pharmaceutical Advertising from the International Comparative Legal Guides (ICLG) series published by Global Legal Group. This detailed guide offers an in-depth examination of pharmaceutical advertising laws and regulations in multiple jurisdictions around the globe. Each chapter of the guide, structured in a Q&A format, is organized into comprehensive sections covering various aspects of pharmaceutical advertising, including: General rules and codes of practice governing pharmaceutical advertising Required arrangements for ensuring compliance with advertising regulations Procedures for obtaining advertising approvals from regulatory authorities Penalties for non-compliance with advertising rules Guidelines for providing information prior to product authorization Requirements for advertisements directed at healthcare professionals Restrictions on the content of pharmaceutical advertisements The complete Thailand chapter is available as a PDF below. The Thailand chapter—and the full Pharmaceutical Advertising guide—are also freely available on the ICLG website.

A recent case at the Myanmar Competition Commission has set a significant precedent in the country’s approach to unfair competition practices. The case, involving a Thai manufacturer of cement grout and tile adhesive products and a local Myanmar producer, highlighted the Commission’s willingness to address issues of deceptive marketing and unfair competition. Background The case centered around a Thai manufacturer who has been distributing their cement grout and tile adhesive products in Myanmar for many years through local distribution agents. The company had established a well-known brand and a strong reputation for quality in the Myanmar market. In recent years, the Thai company discovered that a local individual in Myanmar was manufacturing and selling similar products with packaging nearly identical to their own. The local producer was using the same mark device, color, and packaging design themes, and the products contained deceptive information. Legal Proceedings After an initial cease-and-desist letter failed to resolve the issue, a complaint was submitted to the Myanmar Competition Commission. The case was notable because the Commission typically does not address issues of copying designs, marks, colors, or packaging themes. However, the complaint emphasized that the local individual was misleading customers and competing unfairly by using deceptive information and copying distinctive designs and themes. Lawyers from Tilleke & Gibbins, representing the Thai manufacturer, provided extensive documentation proving their client’s long-standing presence in the Myanmar market and the local individual’s deceptive practices. The Commission’s Investigation Committee conducted a thorough investigation, including market surveys and hearings involving both parties. Commission’s Decision After nearly a year of deliberation, on July 4, 2024, the Decision-Making Committee of the Myanmar Competition Commission ruled in favor of the Thai manufacturer. The decision required the local individual to: Immediately cease the production and distribution of cement grout and tile adhesive products bearing similar color and design themes to the Thai company’s

Thailand has continued to face economic challenges since the COVID-19 pandemic, and some businesses have struggled to survive. One of most important measures that indebted businesses in Thailand can take is to file a business rehabilitation petition with the Bankruptcy Court. The Bankruptcy Act B.E. 2483 (1940) provides “automatic stay” measures to protect the debtors that have entered the business rehabilitation process, and during this time creditors have duties and rights under the Bankruptcy Act as well. Once Thailand’s Bankruptcy Court accepts a rehabilitation petition and issues an order for rehabilitation, the debtor is under this automatic stay protection against actions from the creditor to seek debt repayments, and the creditors are only allowed to pursue their debt repayments by submitting a debt repayment application to the official receiver within one month of publication of the plan preparer’s appointment in the Government Gazette. These are general conditions specified in the Bankruptcy Act. However, there are several practical precautions that are not specified in the Bankruptcy Act but that creditors should take during rehabilitation. Below are several steps creditors need to consider taking at various stages of the rehabilitation process. 1. Appointing a local Thai representative to act on behalf of the creditor in the rehabilitation The rehabilitation process requires much more than just submitting the debt repayment application within the fixed one-month period and then waiting for the result. It also involves contacting, meeting, and discussing with the official receiver, plan preparer, other creditors, or debtor representative to investigate or settle any arguments on the debt. Moreover, the language used in all the processes and documents is usually Thai. In practice, creditors—especially foreign creditors—should authorize a Thai attorney or representative through a valid power of attorney (POA) to represent them during all the rehabilitation proceedings. This includes the investigative hearing by the official

On June 28, 2024, Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) updated its list of promoted activities to include data hosting, which is listed as “Activity 8.2.4 Data Hosting Services.” Qualifying data hosting services are eligible for a corporate income tax exemption (capped) for eight years, along with other tax and nontax incentives, such as import duty exemption on imported machinery to be used in the project, the right for foreigners to own land, and work permit and visa facilitation for expats, among others. To be eligible for these BOI incentives, projects must: Provide services for leasing host servers for data storage (data hosting); Have at least two data centers located in Thailand that meet or exceed the ISO/IEC 27001 data center standards; and Have an investment amount (excluding cost of land and working capital) of at least THB 5 billion. Apart from the above specific criteria, projects also need to comply with the general BOI criteria, such as a debt-to-equity ratio no higher than 3:1, submission of a feasibility study report, and use of new machinery, among others. For more details on BOI incentives for software and data center activities, or on any aspect of investment promotion in Thailand, please contact Athistha (Nop) Chitranukroh at [email protected], Nopparat Lalitkomon at [email protected], or Napassorn Lertussavavivat at [email protected].

On July 17, 2024, Thailand issued the Ministerial Regulation under the Revenue Code regarding Revenue Tax No. 394 (B.E. 2567) to increase the personal income tax exemption amount on severance pay for terminated employees. Under this ministerial regulation, terminated employees are exempt from personal income tax on their severance pay up to a severance pay amount equivalent to their last 400 days’ wages, capped at THB 600,000. This tax exemption does not apply to severance pay relating to retirement or the expiration of a fixed-term employment agreement. Previously, this exemption, which has been in effect since 1998, only applied to an amount equivalent to their last 300 days’ wages, capped at THB 300,000. This aligned with the maximum severance pay rate specified in the Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541 (LPA). However, when the LPA was amended in 2019, the maximum severance pay rate was increased from a rate equal to employees’ last 300 days’ wages for those who have worked for 10 years or more, to a rate equal to employees’ last 400 days’ wages for those who have worked for 20 years or more. The recent ministerial regulation was enacted accordingly to align with the updated severance pay rate and account for Thailand’s rising inflation rate. The new exemption rate applies to assessable income received from January 1, 2023, onward. For any excess severance pay withheld in 2023 and filed in 2024, individuals may request a tax refund from the Revenue Department, according to Revenue Department clarification. This should be done according to the applicable procedure within three years of the income tax return filing deadline. For more information on severance pay exemptions, or any aspect of employment law in Thailand, please contact Pimvimol (June) Vipamaneerut at [email protected], Ketnut Pukahuta at [email protected], Dusita Khanijou at [email protected], or Chomanut Arif at [email protected].

On the afternoon of 19 April 2024, a cramped courtroom at the People’s Court of Hanoi was the setting for the first criminal trial of a case of copyright and related rights infringement in Vietnam, regarding the act of illegal streaming of English Premier League football matches on online platforms. This case is expected to open the door for the criminal prosecution of other cases of copyright and related rights infringement on the internet, an area that has faced numerous difficulties over the past two decades. First criminal case of illegal streaming Vietnamese criminal law has long had provisions in place for criminal handling of copyright infringement crimes, specifically in Article 131 of the 1999 Penal Code. However, more than 20 years after this law took effect, and even though Vietnam enacted the 2015 Penal Code with subsequent amendments, these regulations have remained mainly a law on paper only, and many significant and serious cases causing great frustration for rights holders and society have not been criminally prosecuted. The case in question was initiated by a denunciation of the BestBuyIPTV subscription service by the Football Association Premier League Limited (the “Premier League”) and the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (“ACE”), a coalition of global entertainment companies and film studios dedicated to combating digital piracy and copyright infringement. BestBuyIPTV had illegally streamed Premier League matches and other protected works without authorization of the rights holders. In 2023, after an extensive investigation, the Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention Division (PA05) and the Police Department for Investigating Corruption, Smuggling, and Economic Crimes (PC03) of the Hanoi police brought a case for criminal copyright infringement, pursuant to Article 225 of the 2015 Penal Code, against the offender, an individual named Le Hai Nam, consolidating the dossiers for the People’s Procuracy to indict this defendant before the

On July 18. 2024, Vietnam’s Ministry of Health issued Circular No. 12/2024/TT-BYT promulgating National Technical Regulation QCVN 20-1:2024/BYT on the limits of contaminants for health supplements (“Circular 12”). The new national technical regulation is the very first relating to health supplements, and is expected to have a great impact on the control of health supplement quality in Vietnam. Circular 12 will take effect on August 1, 2025. Contents of Circular 12 The new circular prescribes limits of contaminants (heavy metals and microorganisms), testing samples and testing methods, management requirements, and responsibilities of entities manufacturing and trading in health supplements. Supplemented alcohol products which are declared as health supplements are notably excluded from the scope of the regulation. Transitional Provisions Health supplements which (i) have been granted a declaration registration certificate, and (ii) are manufactured before August 1, 2025, are allowed to continue to be imported, traded, and circulated until the expiry date of the product, even if it is not aligned with Circular 12, except when there is food safety warning. Declaration registration dossiers for health supplements submitted before August 1, 2025, will continue to be handled in accordance with the prevailing regulations at the time of submission. From August 1, 2025, if a health supplement with a granted declaration registration certificate has a manufacturer’s standard that does not comply with Circular 12, the party manufacturing/trading in the product must adjust the product standard to conform to Circular 12 and notify the authority of this adjustment.