IBA Healthcare and Life Sciences Law Committee survey on trade and distribution of therapeutic products – 2026

Sunday 31 May 2026

The IBA Healthcare and Life Sciences Law Committee has put together a legal guide that comprises a global review of major topics and trends concerning the trade and distribution of therapeutic products, including pharmaceuticals/biologics and medical devices, across numerous jurisdictions. This guide aims to provide practitioners, in-house counsel, and industry professionals with a practical overview of the regulatory landscape governing the movement of therapeutic products in and across different countries around the globe, as well as straightforward access to the most relevant rules and regulations.

Each country's section contains an overview of the regulatory framework and competent authorities, with a description of product classification, licensing and authorisation requirements for wholesale and retail distribution, import and export controls, labelling, serialisation and anti-counterfeiting requirements, pricing and reimbursement requirements, enforcement powers and sanctions, as well as recent developments and trends.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to all participants for their invaluable contributions. Each country section identifies its author(s), who can be reached for further questions or suggestions regarding the laws in any specific country.

Lastly, please remember that this guide does not offer legal advice and should not be used as a substitute for professional legal consultation.

Editors:

Beth P. Weinman

Markus Schott

Reviewers:

Alan Adcock

Andrea Abascal

Beth P. Weinman

Camilla Appelgren

Charlotte Tillett

Elvan Sevi Bozoglu

Fangzhou Zhang

Julie Oppenheim

Julio Copo

Markus Schott

Monika Gattiker

Tomás Cihula

Yurika Inoue

Argentina Fernando Martinez Zuviria, Vanesa G Fernández and Dolores Perino	Australia Alison Choy Flannigan	Austria Harald Strahberger and Florian Sesztak	Belgium Olivier Van Obberghen and Pieter Wyckmans
Bolivia Sergio Antelo Callisperis and Alejandro Torrico Quiroga	Brazil Renata Fialho de Oliveira, Bruna Rego Lins, Rodrigo Berti Franciscon, Beatriz Gonçalves Marconi, Lívia Gândara, Isabela Ferreira Lemes de Oliveira, Thais Cristina de Jesus and Brenda Medeiros Barroso	Bulgaria Kalina Tchakarova and Sofia Lefterova	Cambodia David Mol
Canada Robert Stefanelli, Ben Fuhrmann, Christine Laviolette and George Wray	Chile Andrea Abascal, Anamaría Verdugo and Andrés Sepúlveda	China Frank (Feng) Zhou and Vicky (Zhilian) Huang	Colombia Ana Maria Castro, Daniel Cardona and Paula Romero
Costa Rica Marcela Sánchez, Andrea Vargas and Giselle Reuben	Cyprus Eleni Neoptolemou	Czech Republic Tomáš Čihula and Simona Semanová	Denmark Martin Dræbye Gantzhorn, Lærke Abrahamsen Lokdam and Kalle Pedersen Schelde
Dominican Republic Mary Fernández and Gabriella Villanueva	Ecuador Karina Loza Santillán and Melissa García	Ecuador Felipe Samaniego Vélez and Ignacio Espinoza Brito	El Salvador Sofía Quezada, Delmer Rodríguez and Luis Vega
Estonia Ingeri Luik-Tamme	Finland Amanda Terhonen, Inari Paila and Juli Mansnérus	France Cécile Théard-Jallu and Lionel Attal	Germany Katharina Wodarz and Nadine Hartung
Ghana Amina Kaguah, Patricia Mumuni, Marian Apronti, Lesley-Anne Owusu, Josephine Mensah-Kufuor, Michael Morrison and Cyril Effah	Greece Nora Vafeiadou, Ioannis Arvanitis and Chrysoula Moldovanidi	Guatemala Daniela Meza	Honduras Fernando Godoy, Andrea Elvir and Ronald Banegas
Hungary Eszter Takácsi-Nagy and Zsófia Kovács	Iceland TBC	India Arvind Sharma	Indonesia Maria Sagrado, Budhy Apriastuti Evita and Lazuardy Thariq Makmun
Ireland Colin Kavanagh, Orla Clayton, Bridget Clinton, Robert Byrne, Aoibhín Ní Dhubháin and Aoife O’Malley	Israel Sharon Gazit, Judy Amidor and Lennie Zivoni	Italy Denise Moretti, Elisa Stefanini and Claudio Todisco	Japan Yo Uraoka, Yurika Inoue, Yuta Kawasaki and Rio Ichii
Kenya Duane Wekesa and Mahesh Acharya	Laos Prisna Sungwanna and Naiyane Xaechao	Latvia Zane Skļamina	Lithuania Ruta Karpiciute
Malaysia Timothy Siaw and Hon Yee Neng	Malta Steve Decesare, Alexia Valenzia and Daphne Vassallo	Mexico Juan Luis Serrano and Daniel Maldonado-Garrigues	Myanmar Khin Myo Myo Aye and Khin Yadanar Htay
Nicaragua Roger Pérez and Jeynner Gutierrez	Norway Magnus Hauge Greaker and Andrea Aas Larsen	Panama Cristina Lewis, Raysa De Gracia, Guillermo Chalhoub and Ximena De Obaldía	Paraguay Viviana Cervieri, Lucía Arimón and Jesús Urbina
Peru Maritza Reategui, Cecilia Alarcón and Henri Gambier	Philippines Gwyneth S Ong, Jaime S Fernandez and Mary Stephanie T Ignacio	Poland Joanna Krakowiak, Karolina Hryckowian and Natalia Nieróbc	Portugal Manuel Duraes Rocha and Joana Silveira Botelho
Romania Luiza Bedros and Marc Barabas	Saudi Arabia Alexandra Harmer and Mohamed Al Alawi	Singapore Benjamin Gaw and Cherlyn Seah	South Africa Julie Oppenheim and Julia Choate
South Korea Ki Young Kim, Dong Uk Kim and Hee Woong Chung	Spain Elena Cuatrecasas, Jorge Robles and Micaela Izbicki	Sweden Camilla Appelgren, Emmie Montgomery, Michaela Fischerström and Alexander Mild	Switzerland Markus Schott
Taiwan Katherine Juang	Thailand Areeya Yongnusornvanich, Atthachai Homhuan and Suthinee Ongsakui	Turkey Elvan Sevi Bozoğlu	United Arab Emirates Alexandra Harmer and Mohamed Al Alawi
United Kingdom Gustaf Duhs and Luke Fahy-Spada	United States Alison Fethke, Beth Weinman, Brittany DiBiaggio, Emily Fruchterman and Jake Fulton	Uruguay Juan Ignacio Torres Negreira and Jonás Bergstein	Vietnam Kien Trung Trinh, Hien Thi Thu Vu, Mai Thi Le, Thao Thi Bui and Vu Thien Tranc

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