Retail Act likely to be postponed due to slow approval
The country's first-ever Retail Business Act is unlikely to be implemented during the term of the current government, due to the Council of State's delay in approving the draft and opposition from giant retail operators.
A Commerce Ministry source said the Council of State had been very slow in reviewing the draft law, with only four of its 65 articles approved so far, and the ministry feared that implementation of the long-awaited legislation would have to be postponed until the next government. The source said the draft law would have to be submitted to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) before the end of this month if it was to implemented by the current government, but the Council of State's delay had obstructed the process. The act was drafted in 2002 but never implemented, because the Thaksin government did not approve it. An amended draft was finalised in late April in response to small retailers' demands that the government control what they believe is the aggressive expansion of retail giants into communities. The act will be returned to the Commerce Ministry if it cannot be implemented before the current government's term expires, and that will create more problems because of the objections to the law being raised by many giant retailers. Panthep Suleesatira, president of the Federation of Thais Opposing Foreign Retailers, said small retailers were looking forward to the enactment of the new law to ensure that giant retailers would not affect their businesses. The federation also claimed that some giant retailers had made last-ditch attempts to lobby for the law's collapse. Jit Siratranont, deputy secretary-general of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and a member of the NLA, said legislators were watching closely to see whether the Council of State's review of the legislation would be completed this month. If it seemed likely that the law would be delayed until the next government, the NLA would propose taking up a separate draft of the legislation instead, he said, adding that the Retail Business Act was crucial for the survival of small retailers in the face of aggressive expansion by retail giants. The Commerce Ministry source said the amended Foreign Business Act should be enacted within the current government.
Petchanet Pratruangkrai
The Nation
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