Thailand FDA Begins GHS Implementation

Thailand DIW was the first authority to implement GHS on chemicals subject to mandatory notification. According to a release issued by Thailand’s FDA it will become the second Thai authority requiring GHS classification data and labels for chemicals falling under its management.  

There are over 200 chemical substances in the Annex 4 of Thailand List of Hazardous Substances and the manufacture and import of these chemicals have to be notified to Thailand FDA. Once the requirements are fully implemented, when notifying these chemicals to FDA, the producers and importers will have to follow the 3^rd revision UN GHS requirements which are the same with DIW in terms of criteria, including hazard classification, labelling and SDS. The labels should contain hazard pictograms, signal words and hazard statements in accordance with GHS. The active ingredient name on the label should be in both Thai and English.

The precise date of implementation is still under discussion. There’s one year’s grace period until March 2016 for substances and 5 years until March 2020 for mixtures. The draft notification will be open for public comment until July 15^th.