Thailand publishes 4th draft of Chemical Law 
The fourth draft of the proposed new Chemical Law of Thailand, which is intended to replace the existing Hazardous Substance Act was released by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Ministry of Public Health in January 2021. Prior to the publication, the second draft became open to the public in October 2019.
Update from the 2nd draft
FDA made the following minor revisions in the 4th draft from 2nd draft:
- A definition of a mixture was clearly differentiated from the one of a chemical. A chemical is defined as a chemical product that is either a single substance or a mixture.
- The responsibilities of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and the Ministry of Industry have changed. The 4th draft gives more responsibility to FDA and MoPH. Instead of establishing a new National Chemical Agency, FDA would be a secretary office to implement the law. A representative appointed by manufacturers outside Thailand shall apply FDA to be an authorized and qualified representative for foreign manufacturers.
- Responsibility of the label management will be allocated to each committee to handle agricultural chemicals, chemicals for public health, and industrial chemicals.
Future prospects
FDA is currently working on the draft law for further process. However, the future of the draft law is quite uncertain since the MoPH has been engaged to tackle COVID-19 pandemic as the Ministry in charge. It might take a few years to establish and implement the new law.
What’s new about the Chemical Law
The draft law stipulates that a representative based in Thailand shall be appointed by an overseas manufacturer. This concept of the representative has not been legalized under the framework of the Hazardous Substance Act. The Chemical Law also leads the way to regulate non-hazardous chemicals, which is currently not controlled by the Hazardous Substance Act.
Download original text of the 4th draft of the Chemical Law at
http://thaiipcs.fda.moph.go.th/(%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%87%E0%B9%94)%E0%B8%9E.%E0%B8%A3.%E0%B8%9A.%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%B5%20%E0%B8%9E.%E0%B8%A8.%20.07012021.pdf
