G/TBT/N/THA/681  
17 October 2022  
(22-7761) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  English  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6  
 
1. Notifying Member:  THAILAND  
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):   
2. Agency responsible:   
The Office of Food and Drug Administration (Thai FDA)  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers , email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from a bove:   
- 
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [  ], 5.6.2 [  ], 5.7.1 [  ], 3.2 [  ], 7.2 [  ], 
other :  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN  where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Foods (ICS 
Code: 67.040)  
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Draft Ministry 
of Public Health (MOPH) Notificat ion, No. … B.E. …. (....) issued by virtue of the Food Act 
B.E. 2522 entitled "Health Claims in Foods"; (20 page(s), in Thai)  
6. Description of content:  The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) is proposing to set the 
MOPH Notification concerning "Health Clai ms in Foods" as follows:  
a. In this Notification,  
"Health Claims" means a declaration of statement, image, mark, symbol, trademark or 
any information related to a relationship between a food or a constituent of that food and 
health benefits both directly a nd indirectly, classified into 3 types:  
1) "Nutrient function claim" means a declaration of benefits related to the physiological 
role of the nutrient in growth, development and normal functions of the body.  
2) "Other function claim" means a declaration of specific beneficial effects of the 
consumption of foods or their constituents in the context of the total diet on normal 
functions or biological activities of the body. Such claims relate to a positive contribution 
to health or to the improv ement of a function or to modifying or preserving health.  
3) "Reduction of disease risk claim" means a declaration of benefits related to consuming 
a food or food constituent to the reduced risk of developing a disease or health -related 
condition.  
"Risk re duction" means significantly altering a major risk factor(s) for a disease or health -
related condition. Diseases have multiple risk factors and altering one of these risk factors 
may or may not have a beneficial effect.  G/TBT/N/THA/681  
 
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  "Food constituents" means a composit ion of food, including nutrients and other 
substances as a component of food, both naturally occurring and added to food.  
"Nutrient" means any substance normally consumed as a constituent of food which 
provides energy or is needed for growth, development a nd maintenance of life or a deficit 
which will cause characteristic bio -chemical or physiological changes.  
"Other substance" means a substance other than a nutrient that has a nutritional or 
physiological effect  
b. Health claims must conform to the criteri a and conditions as follows:  
1) Food with health claims shall have the following:  
(1) must be safe, and the qualities or standards are in accordance with a particular 
notification. In the case of novel food, it shall be evaluated on safety assessment prior  to 
the claim.  
(2) must have food constituents or nutrients or other substances for which the claim is 
made in a form and provides a significant quantity that has been shown to have a 
beneficial nutritional or physiological effect, as established by genera lly accepted scientific 
evidence.  
2) Health claims must be made to the general consumer to understand the beneficial 
effects as expressed in the claim and it must be on a ready -to-eat basis according to 
instructions for use or consumption on the label and must have a reasonable quantity of 
consumption.  
3) Health claims must be based on current relevant scientific substantiation and 
recognized by a generally accepted scientific review of the data. The level of proof must 
be sufficient to substantiate the typ e of claimed effect and the relationship to health. 
Health claims must be based on evidence provided by well -designed human intervention 
studies in the target group and can be measured by appropriate biomarkers, which consist 
of the following information:  
(1) The quantity of the food or food constituent and consumption pattern required to 
obtain the claimed effect could reasonably be achieved as part of a balanced diet.  
(2) Information on the composition of the food or food constituent relevant to the 
physiological role of the nutrient and the effect of the nutrient on a physiological role in 
case of nutrient function claims.  
(3) Information on the composition of the food or food constituent relevant to the 
accepted diet -health relationship and the health ef fect of the food or food constituent in 
case of other function claims and reduction of disease risk claims.  
4) If the claimed benefit is attributed to a constituent in the food for which a Nutrient 
Reference value is established, the food in question shoul d be:  
(1) a source of or high in the constituent in the case where increased consumption is 
recommended; or,  
(2) low in, reduced in, or free of the constituent in the case where reduced consumption 
is recommended, and the conditions for nutrition claims sh all comply with the notification 
of the Ministry of Public Health regarding Nutrition labeling.  
5) The quantity of the food or food constituent that forms the basis of the claim must be 
measured by a validated and appropriate method.  
c. Nutrient function c laims must conform to criteria as follows:  
1) Nutrients must be in Annex 3 of the notification of the Ministry of Public Health 
regarding Nutrition labeling.  
2) Nutrient function claim statements must comply with Annex 1 of this notification.  
3) If food wi th nutrient function claims contains one or more of the following nutrients in 
excess of the levels listed below per reference amount and labeled serving or, for foods 
without reference amount, per 100 g or 100 mL, it must be labeled with a disclosure G/TBT/N/THA/681  
 
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  statement of adjacent to the claim printed in the largest type on that panel and maybe 
half the size of the claim:  
Total fat 13 g  
Saturated fat 4 g  
Cholesterol 60 mg  
Sodium 300 mg  
Total sugar 13 g  
d. Food with other function claims and reduction of disease risk claims must contain the 
following nutrients per reference amount and labeled serving or, for foods without 
reference amount, per 100 g or 100 mL:  
Total fat less than 13 g  
Saturated fat less t han 4 g  
Cholesterol less than 60 mg  
Sodium less than 300 mg  
Total sugar less than 13 g  
e. Health claims other than those as specified in annexes 1, 2 and 3 attached to this 
notification shall be evaluated the claims assessment by a nutrition and health cla im 
assessment center recognized by Food and Drug Administration. The result of the claims 
assessment and other relevant information described in annex 4 of this notification, shall 
be submitted and approved by Food and Drug Administration.  
f. The declarati on of health claims statement on the label shall comply with the conditions 
as follows:  
1) It must be expressed in the Thai language with similar letters size, readily legible, and 
may also expressed in English or other foreign languages. The statement in other foreign 
languages must be certified with Thai or English translations from government agencies 
or internationally standard document translation private agencies.  
However, the text in English or other foreign languages must have the same meaning as 
the Thai language and must be approved by Food and Drug Administration.  
2) It must not be misleading that food or constituents' consumption could treat, relieve, 
cure or prevent disease.  
3) Label of foods with health claims shall comply with the notification  of the Ministry of 
Public Health regarding the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods and the particular notification. 
The following information should appear on the label of the food with health claims:  
(a) the quantity of food constituents, nutrients, or other s ubstances that is the subject of 
the claim  
If other substance or nutrient which other than as specified in Annex 3 of the notification 
of the Ministry of Public Health regarding Nutritional Labeling and as specified in the 
nutrition panel, it must be decla red type and content of other substance or nutrient under 
the nutrition panel;  
(b) the quantity of the food and pattern of consumption required to obtain the claimed 
beneficial effect;  
(c) the target group, if any;  
(d) advice statement on how to use the fo od for vulnerable groups and for groups who 
need to avoid the food, if any;  
(e) warning statement for consumption or maximum safe intake of the food or 
constituent, if any;  
(f) text of "Should eat varieties of five categories food in appropriate proportion "; G/TBT/N/THA/681  
 
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  (g) text of "No effect for treat, relief, cure or prevention disease" in some cases of other 
function claims or reduction of disease risk claims;  
(h) additional texts as specified in Annex 1 and 2 of this notification;  
(i) additional texts that permitte d by the Thai Food and Drug Administration (Thai FDA)  
4) Declaration of nutrition labeling must comply with the notification of the Ministry of 
Public Health regarding Nutritional Labeling. Unless the food with health claims is Food 
for the special purpose , the labeling must comply with the notification of the Ministry of 
Public Health regarding Food for special purpose.  
f. This notification shall not enforce the following foods :  
1) Food for the special purpose intended for patients or physically irregular  figures.  
2) Foods that are not produced or imported for sale in the country.  
g. Foods whose health claims are displayed on the label before the date of enforcement 
of this notification and contain details that do not comply with the conditions in this 
notification can still be sold but not more than three years as from the date of enforcement 
of this notification.  
h. This notification shall come into force after 180 days as from the date of its publication 
in the Government Gazette.  
7. Objective and ra tionale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable:  Consumer information, labelling  
8. Relevant documents:   
The Notification of the Ministry of Public Health regarding Nutritional Labelling  
9. Proposed date of adoption:  To be determined  
Proposed date of entry into force:  180 days after the date of its publication in the 
Government Gazette.  
10. Final date for comments:  60 days from notification  
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [X] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available , of other body:   
National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards (ACFS)  
50 Phaholyothin Road, Ladyao  
Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900; Thailand  
Tel: +(662) 561 4204  
Fax: +(662) 561 4034  
E-mail: spsthailand@gmail.com  
Websites: http://www.acfs.go.th  
http://www.spsthailand.net/  
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