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The activities of Thailand's technical cooperation, administered by Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency (TICA) vary from the subsistence-based to the commercial-based sectors as well as in fields of energy and environment cooperation

New land and environmental taxes are among the measures considered under a study on tax reform aimed at increasing Thailand's competitiveness, while taking into account the expected increase in the debt burden as well as fiscal constraints

The 11th National Economic and Social Development Plan includes the mission to, inter alia, create socio-economic security through strengthening production of goods and services based on knowledge, creativity and environmental friendliness, and ensuring food and energy security

Some concern has been expressed in the past about the complexity of Thailand's laws and regulations, but in the period covered by this Review, the greatest regulatory uncertainty arose from two court cases, one of them held up investment in dozens of large-scale projects in the eastern seaboard industrial zone of Mab Ta Phut, from 2009 to 2010, on environmental grounds

In the Doha Development Agenda negotiations, Thailand has been active in a number of areas, including the support of proposals to amend the TRIPS Agreement to require patent applicants to disclose the origins of genetic material and any associated traditional knowledge used in inventions, and to show evidence of prior informed consent and benefit sharing ("the disclosure proposal" under the relationship between TRIPS and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity)

Although negotiations on an East Asia Free Trade Area (EAFTA) between ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan, and Republic of Korea) have yet to start, cooperation continues in areas such as rules of origin, customs issues, energy, food security, sustainable forestry, climate change and many others

Thailand participates in sub-regional or regional development or cooperation groups that have as their aim, among others, the promotion of biodiversity, the environment and natural disaster management or natural resources

Yellowfin tuna, used motor vehicles, waste and scrap of plastics, as well as several other products are subject to import licensing and prohibition for reasons of environmental protection

Imports of a wide range of endangered fish, molluscs, amphibians, and coral are banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

From 1 January 2007 to 31 May 2011, Thailand made 189 notifications, mostly of measures to address safety or environmental protection, to the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (including addenda and corrigenda)