Spices Board Flags Pesticide Residue Non-Compliance in Indian Spice Exports to Thailand; Exporters Advised to Follow Thai Standards

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Dated: 18.09.2026

Spices Board Flags Pesticide Residue Non-Compliance in Indian Spice Exports to Thailand; Exporters Advised to Follow Thai Standards

The Spices Board, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, has issued a trade advisory asking exporters of spices and spice products to ensure strict compliance with Thailand’s pesticide residue standards, after the Thai Food and Drug Administration reported instances of non-compliance in consignments exported from India.

The direction has been issued through Trade Advisory No. 06/2026-27 dated September 8, 2026, addressed to all exporters of spices and spice products as well as exporters’ associations.

Thai FDA Reports Pesticide Residue Violations in Indian Spice Consignments

According to the Spices Board, the Thai Food and Drug Administration (Thai FDA) has reported instances of non-compliance involving consignments of spices and spice products exported from India to Thailand.
The primary concern identified in the advisory is exceedance of pesticide residue limits prescribed under Thailand’s regulations.
The development is significant for Indian spice exporters because compliance with the importing country’s residue standards is essential for avoiding regulatory action at the destination, including potential rejection or other measures under the importing country’s applicable rules.
The advisory itself, however, does not identify the individual exporters, specific spice commodities, pesticides involved, number of affected consignments, or the extent by which residue limits were exceeded.

Exporters Asked to Ensure Strict Compliance

In response to the reported cases, the Spices Board has advised all exporters of spices and spice products to ensure strict compliance with Thailand’s pesticide residue standards.
The Board has specifically instructed exporters to exercise due diligence and ensure that all consignments exported from India to Thailand comply with the pesticide residue limits prescribed under Thai regulations.
The advisory therefore places particular emphasis on exporters ensuring compliance before consignments are shipped to Thailand.

Thailand’s Pesticide Residue Standards Made Available to Exporters

To assist the Indian export industry, the Spices Board has made available an unofficial English translation of Thailand’s standards and regulations concerning pesticide residues in food, including spices.

Exporters can refer to the Spices Board’s pesticide MRL resource:

Thailand Pesticide Residue Standards – Spices Board

The availability of an English translation is particularly relevant for exporters and compliance teams assessing whether a particular spice product satisfies the pesticide residue requirements applicable in Thailand.

Maximum Residue Limits Become Critical for Export Compliance

Pesticide residue standards generally prescribe permissible limits for pesticide residues that may remain in food products. For exporters, compliance therefore requires attention not merely to Indian requirements but also to the standards prescribed by the destination market.
The latest advisory makes this particularly important for spice and spice-product consignments destined for Thailand.
Exporters may therefore need to ensure that their quality-control and pre-export verification systems are aligned with the pesticide residue limits applicable under Thailand’s regulations.
Where necessary, businesses may also need to review supplier controls, agricultural sourcing practices, pesticide-use records and pre-shipment laboratory testing to reduce the risk of consignments exceeding the applicable limits.

Advisory Issued Under Spices Board Act and Exporter Regulations

The Spices Board has stated that the advisory has been issued under the provisions of the Spices Board Act, 1986 and the Spices Board (Registration of Exporters) Regulations, 1989, as amended from time to time.

The advisory is addressed to:

all exporters of spices and spice products and all exporters’ associations.

Accordingly, the communication has industry-wide relevance for businesses exporting Indian spices and spice products to Thailand.

What Indian Spice Exporters Should Review

In practical compliance terms, exporters shipping to Thailand should pay particular attention to the pesticide residue specifications applicable to their particular products. This may include verifying the relevant Thai residue limits before shipment, strengthening supplier and batch-level controls, maintaining traceability documentation, and using appropriate laboratory testing where required.
These are prudent compliance measures arising from the advisory’s due-diligence direction; the advisory itself does not prescribe a new testing protocol, laboratory, certificate format or additional export-document requirement. Its express requirement is that exporters ensure their consignments comply with the pesticide residue limits prescribed under Thailand’s regulations.

No New Indian MRL Introduced by the Advisory

Importantly, Trade Advisory No. 06/2026-27 does not itself introduce a new Indian Maximum Residue Limit or amend an existing Indian pesticide-residue standard.
Rather, the Spices Board is alerting exporters to reported non-compliance with Thailand’s existing regulatory requirements and directing Indian exporters to ensure compliance with the destination country’s prescribed limits.
The distinction is important for trade-compliance purposes: the advisory operates as an export compliance alert, while the actual pesticide residue limits to be observed are those prescribed under the relevant Thai regulations.

Key Takeaway

The Spices Board’s latest advisory signals increased compliance attention on pesticide residues in Indian spices and spice products exported to Thailand.

Following reports from the Thai FDA of consignments exceeding prescribed pesticide residue limits, Indian exporters have been advised to exercise due diligence and ensure strict conformity with Thailand’s standards before export.

For exporters, manufacturers and merchant exporters, the immediate compliance priority is therefore to identify the Thai pesticide residue limits applicable to each product and ensure that consignments conform to those requirements before shipment.

In case you face any issues related to Indirect Tax-Customs, GST, Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), Arbitration matters and Central Licensing and related advisory matters in India then please feel free to get in touch with SJ EXIM Services.

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Source: Spices Board India

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