GMP Accreditation
As an ASEAN member, Thailand has implemented ASEAN GMP. In order to comply with the ASEAN Sectorial Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA), which was signed on April 10, 2009, Thailand must standardize its GMP guidelines to be in line with those of other ASEAN countries. In 2011, the Thai FDA issued GMP regulations and launched GMP Guidelines that complied with ASEAN GMP standards and the Pharmaceutical Inspection Convention and Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme (PIC/S)—this provided guidance to local manufac- turers and raised overall standards.
In order to maintain the same GMP standards for both local and overseas manufacturers, the Thai FDA launched the Notification of GMP Accreditation of Overseas Manu- facturers on October 1, 2012. Under this Notification, overseas pharmaceutical manufacturers, which had never before been recorded in the Drug Product Registry of Thailand, needed to be accredited by the Thai FDA before Marketing Authorization (MA) could be obtained. Pharma- ceutical import companies must also submit an application for GMP accreditation before or at the same time as drug registration.