Swissmedic

Swissmedic is the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products (Schweizerisches Heilmittelinstitut), a public-law institution of the Confederation with its own legal personality (Art. 68 and 69 HMG). It authorises ready-to-use medicinal products (Art. 9 para. 1 HMG), grants licences for manufacturing and trade, and is the licensing and control authority for narcotics, including cannabis for medical purposes (Art. 4 and 5 BetmG).

Its role in narcotics control

• Licences: anyone who cultivates, manufactures, processes or trades narcotics needs a licence from Swissmedic, and each cultivation additionally requires an individual cultivation licence (Art. 4 para. 1 BetmG; Art. 22a and 22b BetmKV). For licences to cultivate cannabis for medical purposes, Swissmedic's narcotics section has a Cannabis Agency page.
• Import and export: every import and export of controlled narcotics needs a permit from Swissmedic (Art. 5 para. 1 BetmG).
• Research: according to the BAG, medical research with cannabis needs a licence from Swissmedic (BAG FAQ on cannabis medicines).
• Prescription forms: Swissmedic supplies the official forms for the narcotics prescription to the cantons (Art. 47 para. 5 BetmKV) and publishes a list of blocked forms.

Where patients meet it

For patients, the role of Swissmedic is mostly indirect: the authorisation of ready-to-use medicines, the licences along the supply chain and the official form for a narcotics prescription all go back to it. Travellers deal with it more directly: Swissmedic provides the official form for the Schengen certificate (Art. 42 BetmKV). The supervision of pharmacies lies with the cantons (KAV job profile): see cantonal pharmacist.