By Dr Robert Lewandowski, attorney at law (radca prawny) at Derra, Meyer & Partners in Warsaw
The new Polish pharmacy law of 7th April 2017 will take effect in June of this year. Important changes refer to regulations on requirements for issuing permission for operating pharmacies in Poland. Currently every individual or entity is entitled to apply for permission for operating a pharmacy on the condition that it will employ a qualified pharmacist. This regulation will be a thing of the past soon as under the new law, only pharmacists will be allowed to operate pharmacies in Poland as proprietors or partners in partnerships (general partnership or professional partnership) formed under Polish law. Moreover, further restrictions apply to applicants who already run pharmacies in the same voivodeship, so if the applicant has /or controls more than 1% of pharmacies in the territory of a voivodeship, then permission for operating a new pharmacy or new pharmacies in this province will be denied. In addition, the refusal to permit the running of a new pharmacy also applies in cases in which the applicant or in his/her capacity as a partner of a partnership already operates at least four pharmacies. Finally the new law excludes also the possibility of a general succession with respect of permission already granted to partnerships in the event of their merger, demerger or transformation. This permission expires as a result of these measures unless an appropriate authority (Pharmaceutical Inspectorate) approves the transition of the permits. Last but not least, the operating of a pharmacy in a municipality will be permitted if the level of its residents will number at least 3000. The Polish legislator intends to justify the aforementioned restrictions with the necessity of demographic and geographical requirements in order to establish a balanced network and distribution of pharmacies in Poland. This new law will definitely limit access to operating pharmacies and entirely exclude companies and persons without pharmaceutical qualifications from running pharmacies here in Poland.
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