Elia A. A. dos Reis Amaral
Minister of Health
The Ministry of Health (MOH) is the Government department responsible for the design, implementation, coordination, and evaluation of the policy, defined and approved by the Council of Ministers, for the areas of health and pharmaceutical activities.
The Ministry of Health has under its tutelage the Hospitals of the National Health Service, the Autonomous Service of Medicines and Medical Equipment, EP (SAMES), the National Institute of Health, the National Health Laboratory, the National Ambulance service, and Medical Emergency.
Regulatory Requirements
The MOH has a regulatory responsibility to help control the import and export of certain medicines and chemicals. The safe supply of such drugs is a fundamental requirement to ensuring good public health. Fake or illegal medications may contain toxic doses of dangerous ingredients that could cause mass poisoning. Poor-quality medicines can also compromise the treatment of chronic and infectious diseases, causing disease progression, drug resistance, and death. The MOH also has a responsibility to ensure that certain precursor chemicals are not imported for illegal use, such as the manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychoactive substances.
The department responsible for controlling these type of goods and is the Direcção National da Farmacia e Medicamentos (DNFM). This department is responsible for defining, regulating, implementing, and assessing national drug policies, pharmaceutical activity and health laboratory.
Types of Goods
You may need to obtain a permit from MoH for certain goods. These type of goods are identified by an 8-digit numerical number known as the Harmonized System (HS) number.
You can access and download a list of goods that may require some level of control by the DNFM here. Regulatory requirements sometimes change at short notice, so you should always confirm potential permit requirements directly with the DNFM prior to import or export.
All imports or exports on behalf of the government are dealt with by Servico Autonomo de Medicamentos e Equipamentos de Saude (SAMES), who liaise directly with the DNFM.
You can access and download a copy of the Actividade Pharmaceuticals (Decree Law 12/2004) here.
