The China and Asean region free trade deal came into effect on Friday. I'm wondering if any of you guys know how it effects Thai companies importing consumer goods from China to Thailand. Can they now import consumer goods from China into Thailand without any duty?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8436772.stm

You should be able to import without duty but you will still have to pay VAT

The above is not necessarily true...

The ASEAN-China Free trade agreement does not mean all products coming from China are Duty free...

The duty amount for every commodity may be different and not all commodities are covered under the FTA... also not every commodity that is overred becomes duty free, some may just reduce the duty rate (i.e. from 10% to 5%).

Also, in order to qualify for the reduced Duty amount, the shipper in China would need to provide a "Form E" certificate of origin that has been certified by the Chamber of Commerce in China...