republic of vanuatu
SALE OF MEDICINES (CONTROL) (AMENDMENT) ACT NO. 8 OF 2014

Arrangement of Sections

1 Amendment 
2 Commencement 

________________________

republic of vanuatu
Assent: 19/06/2014
Commencement: 17/07/2014
Sale of medicines (control) (AMENDMENT) ACT NO. 8 OF 2014

An Act to amend the Sale of Medicines (Control) Act [CAP 48].

Be it enacted by the President and Parliament as follows-

1 Amendment
The Sale of Medicines (Control) Act [CAP 48] is amended as set out in the Schedule.

2 Commencement
This Act commences on the day on which it is published in the Gazette.

___________________________

SCHEDULE
AMENDMENTS OF the Sale of Medicines (Control) Act [CAP 48]

1 Section 1 (definition of ‘druggist’)
Repeal the definition.

2 Subsection 2(1)
Delete “5 miles”, substitute “8 km”

3 Subsection 2(2)
Repeal the subsection, substitute

“(2) A person who intends to sell medicine in Vanuatu via the internet, must obtain the prior written approval of the Pharmacists Practitioners Commission.

(3) A person who has obtained approval to sell medicine under subsection (2) must do so under the supervision of a registered pharmacist.”

4 Sections 3 and 4
Repeal the sections, substitute

“3. Limitation on wholesale of medicine
(1) A person who intends to be a wholesale supplier of medicine, must obtain the prior written approval of the Pharmacists Practitioners Commission.

(2) A person who has obtained approval under subsection (1), must not sell any medicine by wholesale to any person other than to a licensed medical practitioner, pharmacist, licensed dentist, licensed veterinarian or a person approved by the Minister by Order.

3A. Import of medicines for sale
(1) Any importation of medicine for sale by wholesale or retail sale is to be recorded by the Director of Customs who is to send a list of all medicines imported to the Principal Pharmacist.

(2) Upon receiving the list of all imported medicines from the Director of Customs under subsection (1), the Principal Pharmacist is to review the list and may approve or refuse to approve the release of the medicines.

(3) If the Principal Pharmacist refuses to approve the release of medicine imported under subsection (1), he or she is to notify the importer and state the reasons for the decision.

(4) Subject to this Act, the Principal Pharmacist may attach conditions to any approved imported medicines.

4. Sale of narcotics
(1) A person who is not a pharmacist, a wholesale supplier approved under subsection 3(1) must not possess, import, sell or otherwise deal in any prohibited substances and materials listed in section 2 of the Dangerous Drugs Act [CAP 12].

(2) A pharmacist, a wholesale supplier who imports, sells or otherwise deals in any prohibited substance or material listed in section 2 of the Dangerous Drugs Act [CAP 12], must keep a proper record of the sale of each substance and disclose the records to the Pharmacists Practitioners Commission when requested to do so.

(3) Despite subsection (1), a person may possess or import a preparation of a substance prohibited under the Dangerous Drugs Act [CAP 12], if the preparation is a medical prescription for personal use and is:

(a) of reasonable amount; and

(b) accompanied by a letter from the medical practitioner from the person’s country of origin; and

(c) appropriately labelled with its correct name.”

5 Section 7
Repeal the section, substitute

“7. Regulations
(1) The Minister may by Order make regulations not inconsistent with this Act for the better carrying out or giving effect to the provisions of this Act.

(2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), the Minister may make regulations for any of the following purposes:

(a) to regulate the sale of medicines;

(b) to prohibit the sale of any medicine except on the prescription of a medical practitioner, dental practitioner or a veterinary surgeon;

(c) to prescribe fees or charges in respect of any application or approval made or any service provided under this Act.

(3) A regulation made under subsections (1) and (2) may authorise the Principal Pharmacist to make and issue a notice with respect to matters prescribed by that regulation.

(4) A Regulation made under subsection (1) or (2) may prescribe a penalty not exceeding VT250,000 for a breach of any provisions of the regulation.”

6 Subsections 8(1) and (2)
Repeal the subsections, substitute

“A person who contravenes section 2, 3 or 4, commits an offence punishable on conviction to a fine not exceeding VT500,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than 2 years, or both.”

7 After section 8
Insert

“8A. Penalty notice
(1) The Principal Pharmacist may serve a penalty notice on a person if it appears to him or her that the person has committed an offence under any provision of this Act or the regulations.

(2) A penalty notice is a notice to the effect that, if the person served does not wish to have the matter determined by a Court, the person may pay to the Government Cashier, the amount of penalty set out in the penalty notice for the offence.

(3) A penalty notice may be served personally or by post.

(4) If the amount of penalty prescribed for the purposes of this section for an alleged offence is paid under this section, no person is liable to any further proceedings for the alleged offence.

(5) Payment under this section is not to be regarded as an admission of liability for the purpose of, nor in any way affect or prejudice, any civil proceeding arising out of the same occurrence.

(6) The regulations may prescribe different amounts of penalties for different offences or classes of offences.

(7) The amount of a penalty prescribed under this section for an offence must not exceed the maximum amount of penalty prescribed under this Act.

(8) This section does not limit the operation of any other provision of, or made under, this or any other Act relating to proceedings that may be taken in respect of offences.”

8 Section 9
(a) Delete “or a druggist”;

(b) Delete “2(2)”, substitute “2(1)”