Philip Morris Case ''Risks US-Thai Links''

Source from:  Bangkok Post 11/04/2015

The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) is studying tobacco giant Philip Morris' claims that indictments against the company would shake the bilateral relationship between Thailand and the US, the new attorney-general says.

Philip Morris (Thailand) has been accused of false declaration of the value of its imported cigarettes and depriving the government of an estimated 68 billion baht in lost tax revenue, according to authorities.

Attorney-General Pongniwat Yuthapanboripan, who took up the job recently, said the OAG is intensifying its work with authorities from the Commerce Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and Finance Ministry on indictments against the tobacco giant following his predecessor's decisions.

In June, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, who oversees legal affairs, called state agencies working on the case and representatives of Philip Morris (Thailand) to a meeting to discuss the indictments against the company.

The firm's representatives told the meeting that a lawsuit filed against the company by the Thai government would destroy Thai-US bilateral ties, including trade and investment, Mr Pongniwat said.

"Taking legal action against a foreign-owned company can be a touchy issue. We must be careful studying the company's claims as the decisions would affect our country," he said.

In September 2013, former attorney-general Julasingh Vasantasingh agreed just before his retirement to indict 12 Philip Morris executives including four foreigners. Mr Julasingh signed the indictments only one week before his departure.

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) stepped into probe allegations against the tobacco giant in 2005.

It found Philip Morris (Thailand) had under-reported the value of its products when declaring them to the Customs Department between 2003 and 2007.

The company reportedly declared 5.88 baht as its CIF -- Cost, Insurance and Freight -- rate for a packet of L&M cigarettes from the Philippines while other cigarette importers declared it to be 16.81 baht per packet.

It also declared the CIF rate on Marlboro cigarettes from the Philippines at 7.76 baht a packet, lower than the 27.46 baht reported by other importers.

DSI investigators sent the probe results to the OAG in 2009, advising it to indict the company and related individuals. But the OAG failed to act for another four years.

Since 2013, there has been no apparent progress with the OAG's move despite Mr Julasingh's signing of the indictments.

This prompted health activists and academics to pressure the OAG a few months ago to speed up their investigation based on the three-year statute of limitations, which will expire in 2018.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha assigned Mr Wissanu to look into the case that has dragged on for more than a decade.

Pol Sub Lt Pongniwat said the OAG is considering three issues as part of its deliberations on the case, including whether it should cancel the indictments. The prosecution would be cancelled if the action has produced no benefits to the public; if it affected the nation's security; and if it would benefit the country. Enditem