On 4^th January 2017, the Cabinet approved in principle the Herbal Products Bill (the “Bill”) as proposed by Ministry of Public Health, and ordered for the Bill to be forwarded to Office of the Council of State for a review, taking into consideration opinions of Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion, and Administrative Offices of the Court of Justice.  The Bill will be handed over to the coordinating committee of the National Legislative Assembly before being submitted to the National Legislative Assembly for final approval.

The Bill is aimed to regulate, control, and monitor herbal products, especially Thai traditional medicines, herbal medicines and supplementary foods.

Ministry of Public Health proposed that at present, herbal product consumption demand in Thailand has continued to increase. It is expected that herbal product industry be a driving force of Thailand’s future economy. Potential products include supplementary foods, natural cosmetics, and herbal remedies. There is, therefore, a need to promote production development and standard, inclusive and quality usage, as well as to ensure quality control and consumer protection.

Under the Bill, any person who would like to manufacture, sell or import herbal products as to-be-announced by the Minister of Public Health must apply for a license before doing so.  A manufacturer, seller or importer under such license must comply with the conditions and requirements prescribed in the Announcement of the Minister of Public Health and the manufacturing processes, sales and importations of the herbal products must take place only in the location indicated in a license.

Furthermore, any person who is permitted to manufacture the herbal products must provide product labels and leaflets according to the Announcement of the Herbal Products Committee and must conduct or have other to conduct the quality analysis in relation to the raw materials and its final herbal products and keep the evidence showing the details of the analysis results.