Chief Pharmaceutical Inspectorate

Information for travellers relating to the export or import of narcotic and psychotropic substances necessary for medical treatment when crossing the border of the Republic of Poland.

Import, export, intra-community acquisition or intra-community supply of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and category 1 precursors for individual needs are regulated in Polish law in Regulation of the Minister of Health of  March 16, 2017 on Detailed Conditions and Mode of Issuing Approvals and Documents Necessary for Import, Export, Intra-Community Acquisition or Intra-Community Supply of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances or Category 1 Precursors (Journal of Laws of 2021, item 399).

In accordance with the regulation, import, export, intra-community acquisition or intra-community supply for own medicinal purposes of medicinal products containing substances listed  in attachments to the Regulation of the Minister of Health on Register of Psychotropic Substances, Narcotic Drugs and New Psychoactive Substances (Journal of Laws of 2022, item 1665), requires obtaining a document issued either by the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector or voivodship pharmaceutical inspector.

The list of substances that require an appropriate document to be transported is available  here.

 

Travel to European Union countries belonging to Schengen area

Pursuant to § 6 of the above-mentioned regulation, a document enabling transport of controlled substances for individual needs to EU countries that are also part of the Schengen area (intra-community acquisition/intra-community supply) is issued by voivodship pharmaceutical inspector or military pharmaceutical inspector, in accordance with the instructions specified in the Decision of the Executive Committee of  December 22, 1994 on the certificate provided for in Art. 75 for the purposes of transporting narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances (SCH/Com-ex (94) 28 rev.).

The appropriate voivodeship pharmaceutical inspector, based on medical prescription, issues or authenticates document, issued by the doctor, specified in attachment 3 of the above-mentioned Regulation of the Minister of Health. In case of travel with multiple products containing controlled substances, a separate document is required for each product.

Pursuant to § 8 of above-mentioned Regulation of the Minister of Health, the document is issued within 15 days before the date of crossing the Polish border, for a specified period, no longer than 30 days.

 

Travel to/from countries not belonging to European Union and Schengen area

Pursuant to § 7 of Regulation of the Minister of Health of  March 16, 2017  on Detailed Conditions and Mode of Issuing Approvals and Documents Necessary for Import, Export, Intra-Community Acquisition or Intra-Community Supply of Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances, or Category 1 Precursors (Journal of Laws of 2021, item 399) documents allowing transport of controlled substances for individual needs to or from countries not belonging to European Union and Schengen area, are issued by the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector.

The document is issued on the basis of an application (signed by the patient) containing prescription or medical documentation, confirming doctor’s recommendation, along with an indication of the recommended dosage of a transported medical products, in the form specified in attachment 4 of the above-mentioned Regulation of the Minister of Health.

Pursuant to § 8 of the Regulation of the Minister of Health, the document is issued within 15 days before the date of crossing the Polish border, for a specified period, no longer than 30 days.

The document is issued only for the amount of product corresponding to the patient's needs for the duration of travel, based on daily dosage of transported products. The Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector can issue document only for a period no longer than 30 days. In case of longer travel duration, continuation of medical treatment, may require visit a doctor in the country of travel.

The issued document allow only for transport of controlled substances by patient during the travel. It does not allow transportation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or category 1 precursors via post or courier companies.

In order to allow timely processing of application and issuance of document, the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector suggests submitting it based on the indicated template example form which provides all the information necessary to issue the document.

Application containing required information, as well as prescription or medical documentation, can be submitted in paper form to the following address: Chief Pharmaceutical Inspectorate, 12 Senatorska Str., 00-082 Warsaw, Poland, by post or in person.

The Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector issues the document only in paper form. At the patient's request, it is possible to additionally send a scan of the issued document to the indicated e-mail address. However,  scan is not an original document authorizing to transport medicines containing controlled substances for patient’s individual needs. The scan is sent for informational purposes only.

Document issued by the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector allows only to cross Polish border with controlled substances. Transport of  the mentioned medical products to and from other countries, may fall under additional regulations based on local law. Therefore, before travel, it is also recommended to obtain information about possible restrictions regards to travel with narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances or category 1 precursors for individual needs from
a  diplomatic mission or Polish representative office of the destination country.