Panel studies customs bribery
The Foreign Trade Department has reacted swiftly to a study alleging rampant bribe-taking at the Commerce Ministry, by ordering an inquiry into the claims.
A ministry source said the department had recently set up an investigative board to look into the allegations. "We're not aware of any bribe-taking. However, we have to investigate the matter to clear our name," the source said. The investigation is in response to a study released last month by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce's Centre for International Trade Studies that said export and import companies paid Bt404 million in bribes last year for faster service at trade checkpoints around the Kingdom. Several government agencies stand accused of involvement with bribery. Apart from the Foreign Trade Department, other entities accused of taking bribes include the Customs Department, the Industry Ministry, the Food and Drug Administration and the Thai Industrial Standards Institute. The Commerce Ministry source said yesterday that the initial findings by the internal committee indicated that no corruption had been found in the agency. "However, we will continue to investigate thoroughly and issue a final conclusion, to make things clear to the public," the source said. The investigation board would be led by officials from other government offices and even outsiders, such as International Trade Studies Centre director Aat Pisanwanich. The source said traders who responded to the questionnaire might have misunderstood the exact situation. He said that exporters and importers might have been cheated out of their money by the shipping companies they hired, which told them that missing funds had gone for bribes for the Foreign Trade Department. A department survey showed 70-80 per cent of exporters and importers had hired shipping companies to handle the trade checkpoints for them. The source said the ministry was developing of trading system involving the use of e-commerce services for direct contact with traders in a bid to eliminate bribery and corruption by officials. Some of the respondents to the study listed gifts to officials as bribes instead of cash, the source said. In reality, giving a small New Year's present should not be considered bribery, according to the source.
Petchanet Pratruangkrai The Nation
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