Myanmar Regulatory Departments
4.2.8 Myanmar Laboratory and Quality Testing Company Contact List
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA):
Was established in 1995 and has responsibility to control the safety and quality of Food, drugs, medical devices and cosmetics through the control, inspection, registration and licencing of manufacturing, import, export, storage, sales and distribution. The FDA is implementing these tasks under the Department of Health of the Ministry of Health and guided by the Myanmar Food and Drug Board of Authority (MFDBA), in accordance with National Drug law 1992, National Food law 1997 and the Public Health Law 1972. The FDA has administrative branches in Naypyitaw, Yangon and Mandalay. There is close collaboration between FDA and the Customs department and Police Force for the control of safety and quality of food and drugs.
Medicines that are imported must be registered at the FDA by the manufacturer or authorised representative (importer & distributor). Applications for registration of medicines must be submitted to the Department of Health, Food and Drug Administration. The registration process can take 1.5 to 3 months. The Ministry of Health can allow import of non-registered medicines on a case-by-case basis.
The FDA has responsibility for quality assurance and control of Food and drugs. The FDA has a laboratory for quality control testing of food, medicines, medical devices and bio- and chemical safety testing. The FDA laboratory does not have ISO/IEC 17025 certification for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. The National Health Laboratory, which falls under the Ministry of Health, provides quality assurance and control for medical laboratory services and has capacity for quality control of medicines as well. At various levels, from central to township level, Food and Drug Supervisory Committees (FDSC) have been established for local inspection and licencing of food and drug manufacturing, sales and distribution. Members of the FDSC’s are: Health department, General Affairs, Police Force, Development Affairs and Livestock breeding and veterinary department.
The Myanmar Scientific and Technological Research Department (MSTRD):
A department under the Ministry of Science and Technology, is guided by the Science and Technology Development Law 1994 and the Law on Standardization Jul-2014 and has the responsibility to conduct standardization and specification of weights and measures, equipment and machinery, raw materials and finished goods. The MSTRD has lead responsibility for Standards, Conformity Assessment and Metrology infrastructure and is the focal point for the National Quality Infrastructure of Myanmar. The Department of Standards, a department of the MSTRD, provides information on international standards, foreign national standards, measurement services, laboratory accreditation and issues analysis reports to industries. MSTRD is a member of ISO since 1-Jul-2005 and IEC since 13-Nov-2007 and it serves as the WTO contact point for Myanmar. The MSTRD is the country focal point of the ASEAN consultative committee for Standards and Quality (ACCQS). The MSTRD is in the process of modernization and has the intention to develop a national standards body, national metrology institute and national accreditation body.
Source: Myanmar Department of Standards (publisher), Date accessed: 27 Nov 2014
The Myanmar Agricultural Produce Trading (MAPT):
Is a government trading organization under the Ministry of Commerce. The MAPT has the objective to develop cultivation of crops, enhance quality of crops and develop rice-milling industries. The MAPT provides fumigation services for storage of grains, can provide rental services for warehouses, conducts pre-shipment inspection of imported and exported food commodities, issues certificates of laboratory analysis and testing, undertakes analysis works of food grains and milling quality, can test for aflatoxin and can test soil and water quality, among other services.
Source: Wikipedia Burma Ministry of Commerce (publisher), Date accessed: 27 Nov 2014.
The Ministry of Energy:
Is responsible for regulation of the fuel market. The state owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) has the responsibility of quality testing and control of fuel. The state owned Myanma Petroleum Products Enterprise (MPPE) is responsible for retail and wholesale distribution of petroleum products. Since Oct-2009 the government allows the private sector to import petroleum products. The price of gasoline and diesel has been liberalized in 2012. The Roads Transport Department, under the Ministry of Railways, is responsible for vehicle registration and exhaust emission control of vehicles. Vehicles require an annual inspection for emission control and to renew registration.
The Myanmar Inspection and Testing Services Ltd (MITS):
Is a commodity inspection enterprise recognised by the Ministry of Commerce. The MITS provides quality control sampling, (pre-shipment) inspection, weight control and supervision services and has laboratory capacity for analysis.
Source: Ministry of Commerce, Myanmar Inspection & Testing Services Ltd, Dates accessed: 27 Nov 2014
Pre-shipment and third party quality assurance inspections for food and non-food products can be carried out by commercial third party inspection surveyors available on the local market, such as:
For information on Myanmar Regulatory department contact details, please see the following link:
