Medical cannabis in Schengen: the certificate step by step

27 October 20264 min read

Carrying prescribed narcotics in the Schengen area: checking the destination, the Swissmedic form, authentication by the pharmacy and the 30-day limit.

Anyone travelling to another Schengen state with a prescribed narcotic needs a certificate under Article 75 of the Schengen Implementing Convention. This article takes you through the procedure step by step, from planning to your return. The general travel rules are in our article travelling with prescribed narcotics.

The legal basis in brief

For travel to a state bound by one of the Schengen association agreements, patients are entitled to a certificate from their treating physician (Art. 42 para. 2 BetmKV). Without an export permit, medicines with controlled substances may be taken out of Switzerland for at most 30 days of treatment, if the destination country allows it (Art. 42 para. 1 BetmKV). Swissmedic provides the official form (Art. 42 para. 6 BetmKV).

Step 1: Check that your destination is in the Schengen area

Swissmedic publishes a list of the countries in the Schengen area. If your destination or a transit country is outside the Schengen area, this certificate does not apply there; the rules of the destination and transit countries apply (Swissmedic). For countries outside the Schengen area, our practice does not issue travel documentation and does not advise on foreign law.

Step 2: Discuss the trip with the physician

Raise the trip in a consultation and tell us your travel date at least two weeks before departure, so that the pharmacy has enough time for the authentication. Where medically indicated, the physician issues the certificate. It costs CHF 50 per destination country.

Have ready:

the number of your passport or another identity document,
your place of birth, nationality and residential address in Switzerland,
your travel dates, that is departure and return and therefore the length of the trip in days.

Step 3: The physician completes the form

The Swissmedic form has four parts (Schengen certificate form):

Part A: prescribing physician. Name, address and telephone, stamp and signature.
Part B: patient. Name, identity document number, place and date of birth, nationality, sex, residential address in Switzerland, length of the trip and period of validity of the certificate, at most 30 days.
Part C: prescribed medicine. The details of the medicine and the duration covered by the prescription, at most 30 days.
Part D: authentication. In Switzerland, this part is completed by the pharmacy that dispenses the medicine.

A separate certificate is needed for each prescribed medicine with controlled substances (Art. 42 para. 5 BetmKV).

Step 4: The pharmacy authenticates

The certificate is authenticated by the pharmacist who dispenses the medicine on the basis of the medical prescription. The pharmacy promptly sends a copy to the authority of the canton in which the treatment took place (Art. 42 para. 3 BetmKV). The form names this authority as the cantonal pharmacy or cantonal medicines control. What that office does otherwise is explained in our article what the cantonal pharmacist does.

Step 5: On the road

Carry the original authenticated certificate with you.
You may take at most the quantity needed for 30 days of treatment (Art. 42 para. 1 BetmKV).
The certificate is valid for the period stated on it, at most 30 days (Art. 42 para. 5 BetmKV). If you travel several times within that period, the same certificate can be used as long as its details remain accurate; after that, a new one is needed (Swissmedic FAQ).
Private individuals may not send narcotics by post. The person named on the prescription carries them in person (Swissmedic FAQ).

Whether import is permitted is ultimately decided by the authorities of the destination country. Swissmedic is the international contact point for questions on import and export by travellers (Art. 43 BetmKV).

Step 6: Longer stays and your return

According to Swissmedic, there is no exceptional authorisation for the 30-day limit. For a longer stay, a physician must be consulted at the destination; it is advisable to take the prescription along and show it there (Swissmedic FAQ). On your return to Switzerland, the rules on import apply (Art. 41 BetmKV).

In our practice

Where medically indicated, our physician Oxana Smagulova issues the Schengen certificate. The fee per destination country is also on our prices page. There is no entitlement to a prescription; the physician decides on the basis of the medical assessment. Travellers without residence in Switzerland will find the rules for their stay on our page for visitors to Switzerland.