Improvement of Cosmetics Manufacturing Facilities in Songkhla Province

Abstract

Objective: To study the problems of cosmetic manufacturing facilities (CMF) in Songkhla Province, and to improve CMFs to be in accordance with the Notification of the Ministry of Public Health regarding rules, procedures and conditions for the production or import of cosmetics, B.E. 2561. Methods: The study was divided into 2 sub-studies. Study 1 investigated the problems of 325 CMFs in Songkhla province as appeared in the e-submission system of the Food and Drug Administration. The study collected data using the CMF assessment form. Study 2 involved the development of 38 target CMFs by using the Deming Cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act: PDCA) for 2 rounds and evaluated using the CMF assessment form according to the Notification. Results: In study 1, the visits to the places registered as CMFs in the database revealed only 11.69 percent of them were CMFs. Most of places not considered CMFs were buildings for other purposes with entrepreneurs hiring other CMFs to produce cosmetics for them. Some were deserted houses with no residents, abandoned houses, locked houses or buildings for other businesses. The second study found that all CMFs participating in improvement program of the study had a significantly higher score on quality of CMFs after the second round of improvement according to the Deming cycle, compared to that after the first round (P <0.001). The proportion of CMFs passing standard increased from 2.63 to 68.42 percent. When considering the evaluation scores of CMFs in each domain, it was found that the scores in the second round were higher than those in the first round in every domain. The domain with the most increased score was quality control, followed by complaints handlings and general information. Conclusion: Results of the study show the problems of CMFs. Development of CMFs according to the Deming cycle had led to increased proportion of CMFs meeting the requirement of the Notification. However, there were still a number of CMFs not meeting certain criteria. Therefore there is a need for continuous improvement and monitoring of CMF quality together with an increase of legal enforcement when cosmetic manufacturers do not cooperate in the improvement of CMFs in accordance with the Notification.