Amendment of the Medicinal Products Licensing Ordinance
At its meeting on 12 February 2025, the Federal Council decided to allow international organizations based in Switzerland to import unauthorized medicinal products for their own staff under certain conditions. The regulation concerns, for example, vaccines for employees of the United Nations and its specialized agencies.
Switzerland has concluded headquarters agreements with international organizations which, among other things, entitle them to directly import goods that are necessary for the performance of their activities. According to current therapeutic products legislation, however, the import of medicinal products not authorized in Switzerland by international organizations is not permitted.
In order to allow international organizations to import medicinal products for internal use, the Federal Council decided at its meeting on 12 February 2025 to amend the Medicinal Products Licensing Ordinance. This will resolve the discrepancy between the import provisions under therapeutic products legislation and the privileges under the Headquarters Agreement.
The amendment to the Medicinal Products Licensing Ordinance, which comes into force on 15 March 2025, allows the import of unauthorized medicinal products by international organizations and stipulates certain conditions for this. This will benefit the United Nations and its specialized agencies, among others, who wish to make a specific vaccine available to their staff.
Source: bag.admin.ch
