Control of the importation, marketing, distribution and sales in the processed food
industry is shared between a number of Thai government bodies including the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA), the Ministry of Finance’s Customs Department and
Revenue Department, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Ministry
of Commerce. The laws and regulations governing the Thai food industry are
confined to the scope of the Food Act of B.E. 2522 (1979). The Act authorizes the
Ministry of Public Health’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to implement and
“DITP has formulated measures to increase the competitiveness of Thai food
business operators, as well as to open up new distribution channels in emerging
markets such as ASEAN, China, India, Russia and Africa. This will help offset
any possible decline in orders from some of our key markets that are facing
economic difficulties”
Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, Director-General of Thailand’s Department of
International Trade Promotion (DITP)
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administer the Food Act. Under the Act, all establishments producing food for sale or
importing food for sale must be licensed by the Food Control Division of the FDA. The
application and granting of licenses must be in accordance with the principles,
procedures or conditions prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations, which are
periodically elaborated, handled, and issued by the FDA’s Food Control Division.
Thai regulations prohibit processed food ingredients containing genetically modified
organisms, such as the Cry9C DNA sequence, which potentially includes frozen or
chilled corn, taco shells, corn chips, corn flakes, corn meal or corn flour.
The National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards (ACFS)
certifies the standards applied to agricultural commodities and food products. ACFS
standards include Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), Good Hygienic Practices (GHP)
and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), as well as other standards
regarding pesticide residues and diagnostic testing for foot and mouth disease and
bovine tuberculosis. Ministry of Public Health’s Manual for Labeling Procedures
regulates processed food containing genetically modified organisms (GMO). The food
manufacture standards adopted in Thailand draws from the international legal
regulations such as Codex, OIE Standards and the International Plant Protection
Convention.