How to Check If a Thai Factory Has an FDA License: Buyer Checklist

What "FDA license" actually means in Thailand

The Thai Food and Drug Administration, under the Ministry of Public Health, regulates cosmetics, food and dietary supplements, drugs, medical devices and a few other categories. Each category has its own system, and a factory can be fully compliant in one and have nothing in another. When a supplier says "we have FDA", your job is to find out which of the following they mean.

• **Cosmetic manufacturing site registration**: a facility that makes cosmetics for sale in Thailand or for export must be registered with the Thai FDA as a manufacturing site. This is the closest thing to a "factory license" for cosmetics.
• **Cosmetic product notification**: each cosmetic product placed on the Thai market is notified and receives a notification number. The number is tied to the product, the manufacturing site and the responsible company. It proves the product exists in the system; it does not prove the product was tested for your market.
• **Food or supplement production license**: a supplement manufacturer operates under a food production license for the site, and each product needs its own food registration or notification. A cosmetic site registration does not cover supplements, and vice versa.
• **GMP certification**: Thai FDA issues cosmetic GMP certificates on request to sites that pass inspection, following ASEAN cosmetic GMP guidelines. It is a quality-system credential, separate from site registration. Some factories hold ISO 22716 from a private certification body instead of, or in addition to, Thai FDA GMP.
• **Export documents**: a certificate of free sale or a certificate of manufacturer is issued per product or per site for export purposes and is not a standing license.

A factory that makes skincare and supplements should be able to show both the cosmetic site registration and the food production license. If it can only show one, it is either outsourcing the other category or not supposed to make it.

Step one: get the exact legal name and the documents from the factory

Verification starts with the right identifiers. Ask the supplier for the following in writing, and keep the reply, because mismatches between what they send and what you later find online are themselves evidence.

• **Registered company name in Thai and in English**, plus the company registration number from the Department of Business Development (DBD). Thai company names in English are often translated loosely, so the Thai name is the reliable key.
• **Factory address**, which may differ from the registered office address. FDA registrations are tied to the physical manufacturing site.
• **Cosmetic manufacturing site registration document** or the registration number, showing the site address and the company name.
• **Cosmetic GMP certificate** if they claim it, with the issuing body, issue date and expiry date.
• **Food production license** if they make supplements, functional drinks or food, with the license number and site address.
• **A sample product notification number** for a product they currently make, ideally one they produce for another brand under contract, so you can see how contract manufacturing appears in the system.
• **Factory license from the Department of Industrial Works**, if applicable to the scale of the plant; this is not an FDA document but confirms the site is a lawful industrial facility.

A transparent manufacturer sends this package within a couple of exchanges. Hesitation, partial scans with numbers blurred out, or a certificate issued to a company name different from the one on the quotation are your first signals to slow down. Listings in a Thai manufacturers directory or a verified B2B platform help you shortlist, but they are not a substitute for the documents themselves.

Step two: verify online with Thai FDA and cross-check with DBD

Once you hold the identifiers, verification is a desk exercise. Thai government databases are public, though mostly in Thai, so plan on using a browser translation tool or a Thai-speaking colleague for the first pass.

• **Thai FDA product search**: the Thai FDA website provides an online search for registered and notified products across categories. Enter the product notification number or the product name and confirm that the result shows the manufacturing site and the company you are dealing with. If the number returns nothing, or returns a different factory, ask the supplier to explain before going further.
• **Manufacturing site and license checks**: site registrations and production licenses can usually be confirmed through the same portal or by contacting the Thai FDA or the provincial public health office where the factory is located. For a significant contract, a formal written confirmation from the authority is worth the effort.
• **DBD company search**: the Department of Business Development's online registry shows the company's legal status, registered capital, directors and registered address. Confirm the company is active, that its stated business objectives include manufacturing and that the directors match the people you are speaking with.
• **Consistency check**: company name on the FDA document, on the DBD record, on the quotation and on the bank account should all match. Trading companies sometimes present a partner factory's certificates as their own; that is not necessarily fraud, but it must be disclosed and the contract must name the actual manufacturer.
• **Dates**: confirm that GMP certificates and licenses are current. An expired certificate may simply be awaiting renewal, but you want to see the renewal application or the new certificate before production.

Record every search with a screenshot and the date. If you later need to prove due diligence to a retailer, an importer or a regulator in your own market, that file is what you will reach for.

Step three: match product notifications to the factory and to the brand owner

For cosmetics, the product notification is where contract manufacturing becomes visible, and understanding it protects you later.

A Thai cosmetic notification names a responsible company, usually the brand owner or the importer, and a manufacturing site. When a factory makes your product under contract, the notification can be filed either in the factory's name or in your Thai entity's name if you have one, with the factory listed as the site. Which arrangement you use has consequences:

• **Filed by the factory**: fast and simple for export-only projects, but the notification belongs to the factory. Moving production elsewhere means re-notifying, and you depend on the factory for certificates of free sale.
• **Filed by your company or a nominated representative**: more control and portability, more administration.

For your verification, ask the factory for two or three notification numbers of products they currently manufacture for other brands and check that the manufacturing site on each record is the factory you are evaluating. If every example is a product under the factory's own brand, they may be newer to contract manufacturing than they claim, which is not disqualifying but worth knowing. If the examples point to a different site, the factory may be subcontracting part of its production, and you should ask where your product would actually be made.

The same logic applies to supplements: each product has its own food registration or notification tied to a licensed site. Ask for examples and check them. This step also tells you something about the factory's product development capability: a long list of notified products across formats suggests an active R&D function rather than a filling line.

Red flags, and how brokers and traders can blur the picture

Most problems buyers report fall into a short list of patterns. None of them automatically means a scam, but each one requires an explanation that you can verify independently.

• **"FDA approved factory" with no document**: Thai FDA does not issue a blanket approval. Ask which registration they mean.
• **Certificate in another company's name**: common when a trading company or broker presents the partner factory's credentials. Insist that the contract names the manufacturing site and that you can communicate with it directly.
• **GMP certificate from an unknown issuer**: check whether the issuer is the Thai FDA or an accredited certification body. A certificate from a consultancy or a training provider is not a GMP certification.
• **Notification numbers that do not resolve**: the search returns nothing, or a different product. Fabricated or mistyped numbers both need clearing up before you proceed.
• **Site address that is a residence or an office**: registrations are tied to manufacturing sites; a shophouse address on a cosmetic site registration is unusual for anything beyond very small scale.
• **Refusal of a site visit or video audit**: a registered manufacturer has no reason to hide the plant from a serious buyer.
• **Every product is "in process"**: a factory that cannot show a single live notification for a contract product may be too new, or may be relying on another site.

A practical rule: any claim that cannot be checked against a government database or a document issued by a recognised body is a marketing statement, not a credential. Treat it as such, and price the uncertainty into your decision. A partner factory network that is openly disclosed, with each site's registrations available for inspection, is far safer than a single factory that hides where the work is actually done.

Beyond the license: what else to verify before you sign

A valid registration proves the factory is allowed to operate. It does not tell you whether the factory is good, or right for your product. Once the license checks pass, extend the diligence to these areas.

• **Audit or site visit**: walk the line in person or by live video. Look at segregation of raw materials, cleanliness of filling areas, documentation on the floor, water system maintenance and how finished goods are quarantined before release.
• **Quality system evidence**: ask for a blank batch record template, an example certificate of analysis for a finished product, the stability testing protocol and how deviations are handled. GMP is a system; the paperwork is where you see it.
• **Testing capability**: in-house microbiology and physical-chemical testing, or an accredited external lab they use routinely. Ask for a recent lab report.
• **Product development**: who formulates, how many chemists, what formats they have launched in the past year and whether they can show stability data for formulas similar to yours.
• **Regulatory support**: whether they can prepare the product information file, free sale certificates and other documents your destination market requires; documents are provided per product when you order, so confirm the list up front.
• **Capacity and scheduling**: how many filling lines, which formats, and how new contract orders are slotted in. Quantity and timing are confirmed at quotation stage, so ask what drives them.
• **Commercial terms**: ownership of the formula, confidentiality, minimum order quantity, which for contract manufacturing is the standard 1,000 units per SKU, payment stages and what happens if a batch fails quality control.

Put the findings into a simple scorecard: licenses verified, quality system seen, testing confirmed, development capability, regulatory support, commercial fit. A factory that scores well across all six is rare and worth a long relationship. A factory that passes only the license check is a starting point, not a decision.