HACCP - More Certification ?

By Sally Subhapholsiri
Bangkok, Thailand

In order to check all of the remaining 11,925 Thai food processors for HACCP, the industry needs 5,000 qualified consultants, 1.3 million work-days and 4 billion baht, according to a policy research .undertaken by a group from. Chulalongkorn University. The results of the four -month study, commissioned by BIOTEC (National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology) from October, 1999 to January, 2000 were announced during the ProPak Asia Food Conference held in Bangkok last June.

According to Dr. Sompop Manarungsan from the Faculty of Economics, processed food manufacturers in Thailand total 12,080 factories, not including rice mills and shrimp farms. There are only 400 large companies. The rest , or 97%, are small and medium-sized enterprises (Fig. 1). Only 155 factories have to date been assessed for HACCP systems, with the bulk, representing 16.45%, coming from the fishery sector (Fig. 2)

		Figure 1 Thai Food Companies
		Figure 2