The cabinet has endorsed the Commerce Ministry’s proposal to add face masks, the synthetic yarn used to produce them, sanitizers and the import of scrap and recycled paper to the list of controlled products, the production, distribution, import and export of which are now subject to control by the Internal Trade Department.
Controlling face masks, sanitizers and synthetic yarn is intended to ensure sufficient supply due to high demand as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak in China and concerns over the spread of the virus in Thailand, which attracts ten million Chinese tourists annually.
Informed cabinet sources explained that the move to control the import of scrap and recycled paper is because imports have increased substantially after prices plunged sharply, following China’s decision to ban such imports. China had been the world’s largest importer of scrap and recycled paper.
