Drug import in Russia: main tricks

The essence here is Federal Law #61 dated 12 April 2010 “On Drugs’ Circulation” which fully depicts and characterizes the term, specifying the substances that may be relevant. Specifically, substances for diagnostics and prophylaxis are also named. Also, specific requirements of the Russian Government and Customs are to be observed. Notably, these import measures are clearly stipulated that reveals Government’s involvement in the topic.

Drugs allowed for import

Drug import in Russia requires the following requirements to be met:

• Drug is to be entered into the State Registry
• Drug is to be officially certified
• Drug import is to be officially approved

The above requirements have certain exclusions. That belongs to clinical trials drug supplies. Also, individual application is allowed from the subject to have a life secure drug.

Special approvals are issued by Russian Ministry of Health within 5 working days and is free of charge and is an official approval for the drug importation.

Illegal drug import: consequences

Paragraph 5 of Art. 47 of the Federal Law 61 provides a list of medical categories that are strictly prohibited for import into the Russian Federation, namely falsified, low-quality and counterfeit medicines. The ban also applies to categories that include narcotic and psychotropic substances and their precursors.

Unauthorized import of prohibited drugs implies criminal liability, the punishment of which depends on the situation. This may be compulsory labor or confinement for 3-5 years.

Note that these are not the only penalties; there are also fines and a ban for certain positions. The size and duration of these depend on the court decision. In cases of group act or harm to someone, serious types of punishment are utilized. In case of death of two or more people 12-years confinement is utilized.

Thus, importing procedure of medical categories’ products requires a number of Russian legal conditions to be observed. Russian legislation makes it legally possible import of certain drugs not listed in the National Registry; however, this requires a certain package of documents. The lack of these entails criminal liability of imprisonment, therefore serious and deliberate approach must be utilized here.