Mail-order sales of medicinal products are prohibited in Switzerland under the Therapeutic Products Act (HMG), whereas most European countries permit such sales under certain conditions. The cantons do have the option to grant pharmacies a license for mail-order operations. However, the HMG requires a medical prescription for the mail-order sale of any medicinal product—even non-prescription medicines. Furthermore, due to the requirement for an operating license as a public pharmacy, drugstores are automatically excluded from mail-order trade. A planned revision of the HMG aims to liberalize mail-order sales and eliminate these inequalities.

On behalf of the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Swiss Economics is conducting a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) to evaluate the economic effects of mail-order sales of medicinal products. The study examines the potential economic and health-related consequences of lifting the prescription requirement and granting market access to drugstores. In addition, it explores whether the licensing for mail-order trade should be handled by the federal government in the future or remain with the cantons.

Methods

• Regulatory Impact Assessment after the manual of SECO
• Literature analysis
• Interviews
• Survey

Publications

• Consultation on Amendments
• Publication in German