QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE (GAP) FOR

ON-FARM PRODUCTION IN THAILAND-SUMMARY

Sara Villa Lema, code 1010017037

Gabriela Cardozo Almario, code 1007334212

The article provides a contextualization of food safety in Thailand and how they have created
a new quality management system based on international standard concepts such as
HACCP and the ISO method, taking into account control points and risk minimization
methods in the production chain to create a three-level certification for the production of 28
crops. The first level is about food safety, the second level is about food safety and free of
pests and the third level is about food safety, free of pests, and quality.

In 2002 was announced for the first time the new quality management system. This system
was developed by the government and the private sector in order to enhance the quality of
the country's plants, fishery and livestock goods. The system that this group created was
promoted in the Food Safety Year, 2004, in order to educate the people on topics such as
food safety and quality food. Thailand's QMS was created with the GMP and GAP concepts
in mind, so the on-farm production process is enhanced to eliminate or minimize the
physical, biological and chemical risks. The system offers farmers a guide for the production
of fresh fruits and vegetables to participate in the competitive market. This system aims to
meet the quality and safety standards that allow customer satisfaction based on 8 items,
which are: water, field and land history, pesticide issues, on-farm stoking and transporting of
produce, crop protection, production process, postharvest handling and records.

The new QMS for on-farm production also has components such as a quality policy, which
talks about the company's or farm's vision for the future, what they hope to achieve using the
quality system. On the other hand, it is composed of the quality objectives, which seek to
meet customer requirements such as growing fresh fruits and vegetables free of pesticides
to ensure that the customer's consumption is safe and causes great satisfaction. And last but
not least, the quality plan. The HACCP concept and the ISO method were involved in the
creation of this point, which contributed to the identification of points in the production chain
where there were greater risks and the preventive actions to mitigate them. This plan
describes the practices required to produce fresh fruits and vegetables to meet the quality
standards expected by customers and to ensure that the product they are buying is fresh
and of high quality.

In addition, the text provides operation procedures and work instructions so the growers can
have the techniques and steps to ensure good quality crops. All identified control points
should be written down so that a record can be kept for traceability. Thailand has made great
progress due to the strong support from the government for the implementation of QMS
which is still a policy. Thanks to the support of the private sector, the owners of 325,000
farms have also been educated about QMS, with 5% of these farms achieving Level 1
certification. The consumers must demand quality and safety in the products that they
consume so this system can work properly.