At present, the Thai government adopts the food safety policy of all people have the right to enjoy healthy and safe food as its national philosophy, which aims to ensure food safety and protect consumer’s health. Food Law B.E.2522 is a general law in the field of food safety in Thailand. On the basis of this law, Thailand has established a food safety supervision system. FoodMate will introduce Thailand's food safety supervision system.

A.Thailand's food safety regulatory system overview
Thailand has established a food safety legal and regulatory system based on the Food Law to ensure food safety and clarifies the regulatory responsibilities of relevant food safety authorities. At the same time, Thailand attaches great importance to the construction of a comprehensive food safety guarantee system, formulates food safety supervision plans and encourages consumers to participate, pays attention to food safety education and training, and advocates international cooperation in food safety.

Thailand's food safety supervision is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. The division of supervision is relatively clear and the responsibilities are clear. Different regulatory measures are adopted for different products, from product pre-market approval, process supervision to post-market random inspections, forming a relatively complete regulatory closed loop.

B.Thailand's food safety legal and regulatory system
Thailand's food safety legal and regulatory system is introduced from two aspects: the legal level and the regulatory level.

1. The legal level
Thailand's Food Law B.E.2522 is a general law in the field of food safety in Thailand. The basic content includes: establishment of a food committee, food control, food registration and advertising management, the power of the competent official, application, suspension or revocation of food licenses, and related penalties Measures etc.

Article 6 of the law clearly divides food into three categories: special controlled food, quality standardized food and ordinary food. In addition, different regulatory measures are taken according to the different risk levels of each type of food.

Thailand has always attached importance to standardization management. Food safety standardization laws, including Agricultural Standards Law B.E.2561 and Industrial Products Standards Law B.E.2511, strengthen supervision of the implementation of national standardization work, improve the work efficiency of the relevant administrative departments of agricultural national standardization, and promote national standardization work Unified and coordinated development.

2.The regulations level
In order to better implement the requirements of Thai food safety laws, effective manage local and import and export foods, the food safety authorities of Thailand can formulate relevant laws and regulations, departmental rules, announcements and notices in accordance with the law to further implement legal requirements.

It mainly includes the formulation of food product quality and safety related regulations or standards, as well as food general safety and compliance related regulations. It mainly involves product labeling, the safe use of food additives, the limit requirements for certain chemical substances, pollutants, microorganisms, and the requirements for food contact materials.

Up to now, the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand has issued 419 announcements on food safety standards and regulations. The names of general food regulations are listed below for reference.

(No. 418) B.E. 2563 Issued by virtue of the Food Act B.E. 2522 Re: prescribing the principle, conditions, methods and proportion of food additives (No.2)

(No.416) B.E.2563 (2020) Issued by virtue of the Food Act B.E. 2522 Re: Prescribing the quality or standard, principles, conditions and methods of analysis for pathogenic microorganisms in foods

(No. 414) B.E. 2563 Issued by virtue of the Food Act B.E. 2522 Re: Standards for Contaminants in Food

(No. 367) B.E. 2557 (2014)1 Re: Labeling of Prepackaged Foods (Revised by The MOPH Notification No.383, B.E.2560 (2017))  

(No. 295) B.E. 2548 (2005) Re: Qualities or standard for container made from plastic

C.Thailand Food Safety Regulatory Agency
The main departments involved in food safety supervision in Thailand are: the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.

1.Ministry of Public Health
Ministry of Public Health is the government agency responsible for public health affairs in Thailand. The subordinate agencies of the Ministry of Public Health in charge of food safety supervision are: Food and Drug Administration and Food Safety Promotion and Support Bureau.

Thailand Food and Drug Administration is the most important department responsible for food safety supervision in Thailand. This department is mainly responsible for the food industry: establishing food standards and regulations, formulating hygiene and labeling requirements; controlling the production and import of food; approving the registration of special controlled foods; approving and reviewing advertising and packaging materials; inspecting food factories and sales locations; food sampling and quality assessment; taking legal actions such as seizure, recall, and prosecution of illegal food or behavior; improving the quality awareness of consumers and food manufacturers; maintaining good cooperation and communication with other government departments and international organizations, and collecting, disseminating and exchanging food Information etc.

The Food Safety Promotion and Support Bureau is the coordination department for coordinating all parties' food safety cooperation. The bureau is responsible for collecting and publishing food information (food safety status, Thai food safety information and international food safety information); conducting food safety statistics (foreign product recall information and annual product recall information statistics); publishing Thai food warning information and international food early warning information.

2.Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives is the government cabinet department responsible for Thailand's agriculture, forestry, water supply, irrigation, and farmer cooperative management.

The Ministry of Agriculture and the Animal Husbandry Development Department, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, , are the most important agencies involved in food safety supervision.
The responsibilities of the Thai Ministry of Agriculture are to establish an internationally recognized certification system for agricultural products, provide certification services for the import and export of agricultural products and other goods, and supervise the implementation of laws and regulations on the scope of duties.

The Department of Animal Husbandry Development of Thailand is responsible for research and development of animal husbandry technology, inspection of the quality of animal species and feed and other animal husbandry products, animal husbandry product standard certification, and management of domestic and foreign animal husbandry and cooperation.

D.Summary
The Thai government attaches great importance to the safety of food and agricultural products. To this end, Thailand has formulated a relatively complete system of food regulations and standards, and established a series of regulatory systems. In order to ensure the implementation of these regulations and systems, the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives earnestly perform their duties to ensure that relevant regulations and standards are effectively implemented, effectively guarantee Thailand's food safety and consumer's health. Through the above introduction, we have a certain understanding of Thailand's food safety regulatory system. FoodMate hopes to participate in a more practical way to participate in the compliance exchanges of food exported to Thailand in a wider range. 

Please note: Original English article of Business Division of Food Safety and Regulatory Compliance of Global Foodmate, please indicate the source from the Global Foodmate if reprint.

Business Division of Food Safety and Regulatory Compliance of Global Foodmate provides food standards & regulations research, labelling compliance consulting/Chinese label design, industry public opinion monitoring and analysis, registration services (of Infant formula, FSMP, Health food, Novel Food Ingredients, Novel Food Additives, New Varieties of Food-Related Products and Overseas manufacturers of imported food) and other comprehensive food safety solutions for domestic and overseas enterprises and institutions in food industry. 

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