GMP Requirements for Thailand Supplement Manufacturers
Thai FDA will not approve an imported supplement unless the manufacturing site shows a food production system equivalent to or not inferior to Thailand's own GMP standards. Codex GMP, HACCP, and ISO certifications are accepted, but the certificate must be current and submitted in the form Thai FDA now requires following rule changes that took effect in late 2024.
Last reviewed: July 2026
What GMP Standard Does Thai FDA Require?
Thai FDA's food importation framework requires evidence that the foreign factory operates a food manufacturing system equivalent to or not inferior to GMP 420, the standard set by MOPH Notification No. 420 B.E. 2563 (2020) and applied broadly across food products, including supplements. GMP 386 (MOPH Notification No. 386 B.E. 2560, 2017) is a separate, narrower Thai food-manufacturing GMP standard scoped specifically to fresh fruit and vegetable packing houses, not a general equivalence standard relevant to supplement manufacturers. The requirement is not that the factory hold a Thai certificate, but that it demonstrate an equivalent system. GMP 420 governs GMP requirements for Thai FDA food manufacturers generally; a supplement site and a general food site are held to the same underlying framework.
Accepted equivalents include GMP under Thai law, Codex GMP, HACCP, and ISO 9000 or ISO 22000. A manufacturer already certified to a recognized international food-safety standard is usually most of the way there, but the evidence must be current at submission and must remain valid through the review period. An expired certificate can stall a file that is otherwise complete.
| Standard | Governing Basis | What It Requires |
|---|---|---|
| GMP 386 | MOPH Notification No. 386 B.E. 2560 (2017) | Thai food manufacturing GMP scoped to certain fresh fruits and vegetables |
| GMP 420 | MOPH Notification No. 420 B.E. 2563 (2020) | Thai food manufacturing GMP applied broadly across food products, including supplements |
| Codex GMP | Codex Alimentarius general principles of food hygiene | International hygiene and production-control standard accepted as equivalent |
| HACCP | Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points | Food-safety management system identifying and controlling hazards at critical points, accepted as equivalent |
| ISO 9000 | ISO quality management series | Quality management system certification accepted as equivalent |
| ISO 22000 | ISO food safety management series | Food safety management system certification accepted as equivalent |
What changed in November 2024
Thai FDA revised how foreign manufacturing certificates are submitted, removing a notarization step for certificates that can be checked online. The change reduces cost and delay for many manufacturers, but only where the certificate is genuinely verifiable.
The notification
On November 27, 2024, Thai FDA issued an updated notification on documents and certificates of food production system standards for imported food, replacing the version from April 19, 2021.
Certified copies dropped for verifiable certificates
Certified or notarized copies are no longer required for production-standard certificates that can be verified online, provided the online record shows the standard name, the certified facility's name and address, the scope, the certification dates or status, and the issuing body.
GMP certificates Thai FDA accepts
Certificates verifiable through the standard owner, an Accreditation Body, a Certification Body, or the International Accreditation Forum, such as FSSC, GlobalG.A.P, and BRCGS.
Why it matters
It removes a notarization step that previously added cost and delay for many foreign manufacturers, but only for certificates that are genuinely verifiable online. A certificate that cannot be checked this way still requires the older treatment.
GMP is necessary, not sufficient
A strong GMP position clears one requirement. It does not by itself register a product. The manufacturing evidence sits alongside classification, the importer and import license, the Thai-language label, and the claim and ingredient review. A manufacturer with excellent GMP and a misclassified product, or a claim it cannot make, is not closer to approval. GMP is a gate to pass, not the whole pathway.
