Thailand sets to declare food contact paper and Electric Vehicle batteries as regulated products by 2024

    Amid the shift in consumer behavior, with more people turning to home cooking, related products such as food contact paper for heat cooking have seen a surge in demand. Similarly, the electric vehicle industry, which promotes energy conservation and is environmentally friendly by reducing pollution, continues to grow with the increasing demand of motorists.

     To enhance the public's safety, the Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TISI) of the Ministry of Industry is preparing to declare food contact paper used for heat cooking and batteries for electric vehicles as regulated products, to be enforced in 2024. This is due to the growing use of both food contact paper and electric vehicle batteries. Food contact paper for heat cooking covers papers used in heat food preparation, such as oven paper, tea bags, coffee filters, and bakery paper for oven baking. If these products are not manufactured to standard, they may contain heavy metals like lead, cadmium, chromium, and arsenic, which could contaminate the food and are harmful to the body.

     Regulations will control contamination by heavy metals hazardous to health when the paper is subjected to heat, and contamination must not exceed the specified standards. The paper must also not contain any harmful bleaching agents and antibacterial substances.

     Electric vehicle batteries, which store energy to supply electric current to the propulsion system of electric vehicles like motorcycles, tuk-tuks, small three-wheeled vehicles, cars, trucks, buses, and delivery vehicles, as well as batteries in hybrid cars, will also be regulated, except for lead-acid batteries. If not manufactured to standards, the chemicals in the batteries, which may be flammable, can pose dangers to drivers, road users, and residents.

     It is expected that by 2024, food contact paper and electric vehicle batteries will be declared as regulated products, along with another 140 items that are declared regulated due to their potential risks to public safety and property.

Data updated on May 2, 2023
Source: Office of the Prime Minister, Government House
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