The Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce, is preparing to step up measures to prevent the import of waste after finding that goods were declared as sorted scrap paper imported for recycling, but were found to contain hazardous waste. Mr. Ronnarong Poolpipat, Director-General of the Department of Foreign Trade, revealed that the department, together with relevant agencies, is monitoring and preparing to increase the intensity of measures to supervise the import of goods to preserve the environment, such as banning the import of scrap paper or setting measures for importing scrap paper licenses that require strict screening to prevent the import of scrap paper contaminated with waste or other materials, which contain materials that are considered hazardous waste and medical waste. Since the beginning of 2024, there have been reports of entrepreneurs declaring the import of scrap paper to be used as raw materials in factories for producing paper and packaging. However, when checking the facts of the goods, it was found that the imported goods contained a large amount of waste and other contaminants, which are considered hazardous waste, such as used items such as plastic bottles, foam, plastic bags, soft drink cans, disposable diapers, face masks, medical bags and rubber tubes, etc. This shows that the scrap paper ordered was not sorted and did not meet the standards of acceptable contaminants from the country of origin. Products that contain waste and other contaminants are classified as municipal waste, which is prohibited from being imported according to the Ministry of Commerce's announcement on the designation of municipal waste as prohibited goods for import and transit through the Kingdom of Thailand B.E. 2562, which is considered an illegal act. Therefore, importers are requested to be more careful and give importance to selecting distributors so that they do not bring waste from abroad into Thailand, which causes environmental pollution and public health problems. If business operators have further questions, they can inquire at the DFT Call Center at 1385 or the General Trade Administration Division at 0 2547 5121. Source: Thai News Agency