Following the public hearing in March 2022, the Trade Competition Commission of Thailand (TCCT) published an amendment to the guideline on fair trade practices relating to credit terms with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) under section 57 (unfair trade practices) of the Competition Act 2017.
This is the first amendment after the guideline became effective in December 2021 (see our previous newsletters in August 2021 and March 2022).
The key amendment is on the definition of SMEs. Business operators will have to satisfy both the employee number and annual revenue thresholds to be considered SMEs within the scope of this guideline, whereas the 2021 guideline merely requires business operators to satisfy either threshold.
Under the amendment, SMEs are those business operators that meet the following criteria:
- For manufacturers, having not more than 200 employees and an annual revenue of not more than THB 500 million.
- For service providers, having not more than 100 employees and an annual revenue of not more than THB 300 million.
Further, the requirement of the SMEs to provide evidence of their SMEs status to their business partners to receive protection under the guideline is also amended to be in line with the new definition of SME — requiring the SMEs to provide both the documents on number of employees and income.
The amendment was published in the Government Gazette on 17 August 2022 and will become effective on 16 September 2022 (30 days after the publication in the Government Gazette).
Any complaints or matters submitted the TCCT prior to the amendment becoming effective will be considered under the 2021 guideline.
