Let me tell you about our little saga with Thailand's FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Since we returned to Thailand on February 7 we have been working to get permission from the FDA to import a vitamin and mineral fortification for the contract we won recently from a major international organization. Four times the documents have been rejected, four times they've been sent by overnight courier from the vitamin company in Germany.
When it comes to this kind of thing, every jot and tittle is important, apparently. The latest issue, requiring a re-do and re-send: we were told the product specification for Potassium Chloride needed to have the words "Test for Sodium...Negative Test". "Sodium...Passes Test" was not good enough! That's Thai bureaucracy. Then, the company in Germany, too has not been cooperative. They refused to change the wording. So we ended up with "Sodium...Negative Test."
Praise God. This morning they finally accepted all the documents and are waiting "for the big man upstairs" to sign... How long will that take? Normally it's 35 days. But we're praying for 3! This may seem like a small thing, but our whole food mill is lying quiet and still, waiting for the day it can begin to make food! Wessel and the team interviewed employees and got totally geared up a month ago. Then Pffttt the wind went out of our sails. Why is this happening this way? I'll let you know when I find out from the Man upstairs.
Turns out "the man upstairs" is a women, and has now again found something that isn't quite right: should be 100 % KCI, and not 99 %... but Germany keeps saying it's only 99 % KCI, and 1 % 'carrying agents'. But, FDA says it should be 100 %.. and here we are, not making any progress. I'm sick and tire of it!!!
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