Thailand to Update the Maximum Residue Levels of Toxic Substances in Food

Thailand's Food and Drug Administration will revise maximum residue limits (MRLs), default limits, and extraneous maximum residue limits (EMRLs) in food. Additionally, ASEAN regulations will serve as references when residue levels are not specified in Codex standards.

On June 20, 2025, Thailand Food and Drug Administration announced preparation for enforing Ministry of Public Health Notification No. 460 regarding Food with Toxic Residues (hereinafter MOPH Notification No. 460). The Notification is currently being submitted for publication in the Royal Gazette and will take effect on July 22, 2025.

Once in force, MOPH Notification No. 460 will replace four previous notifications: MOPH Notification No. 387 on Food with Toxic Residues, No. 393 on Food with Toxic Residues (No.2), No. 419 on Food with Toxic Residues (No. 3), No. 449 on Food with Toxic Residues (No. 4). The key amendments compared to previous versions include:

1. ASEAN regulation included as reference for MRLs

Under the previous framework, MRLs for toxic substances were referenced primarily from values specified by Thai authorities. If unavailable, stakeholders could refer to Codex MRLs/EMRLs, and if still absent, default limits applied. The new regulation adds ASEAN MRLs/EMRLs as an additional reference source when values are not available in Codex standards.

2. Revised MRLs in Annex 2

The MRLs for hazardous substances in food specified in Annex 2 have been completely updated, expanding from 59 to 88 items. To align with food classifications in TAS 9045-1-2568, the naming format for some food types has been updated. For example, the original “rice” is changed to “milled rice”.

3. Updated the default limits in Annex 3

The regulation introduces default limits for four toxic residues in animals: fenazaquin, fenhexamid, fenitrothion, ametoctradin. It also reduces the default limits for "carbendazim, benomyl, or thiophanate-methyl" from 0.1 mg/kg to 0.01 mg/kg, adds a default limit of 0.005 mg/kg for carbosulfan in plants, and consolidates the default limits for triadimenol and triadimefon into a single entry since they belong to the same category.

4. Updated EMRLs in Annex 4

MOPH Notification No. 460 adjusts the table format, and updates the food type names with reference to TAS 9045-1-2568. Several EMRL values have been amended, including: chlordane in amphibian meat reduced from 0.05 mg/kg to 0.02 mg/kg, and DDT in edible offal from mammals (excluding marine mammals) decreased from 5 mg/kg to 1 mg/kg. The notification also introduces EMRL values for lindane.