Directive 2022/642 - Amendment of Directives 2001/20/EC and 2001/83/EC as regards derogations from certain obligations concerning certain medicinal products for human use made available in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland and in Cyprus, Ireland and Malta - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 118/4

The Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (3) (the ‘Withdrawal Agreement’) was concluded on behalf of the Union by Council Decision (EU) 2020/135 (4) and entered into force on 1 February 2020. The transition period referred to in Article 126 of the Withdrawal Agreement, during which Union law continued to apply to and in the United Kingdom in accordance with Article 127 of the Withdrawal Agreement, ended on 31 December 2020. On 25 January 2021, the Commission issued a Notice (5) on the application of the Union’s pharmaceutical acquis in markets historically dependent on medicinal products supply from or through Great Britain, namely Cyprus, Ireland, Malta and Northern Ireland, from the end of that transition period until 31 December 2021.

In accordance with the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland (the ‘Protocol’), which forms an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement, the provisions of Union law listed in Annex 2 to the Protocol apply, under the conditions set out in that Annex, to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland. That list includes Article 13 of Directive 2001/20/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) regarding the manufacture and import of investigational medicinal products, Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (7) and Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8). Therefore, medicinal products placed on the market in Northern Ireland are to comply with those provisions of Union law.

Directives 2001/20/EC and 2001/83/EC lay down the rules for medicinal products for human use and investigational medicinal products intended to be placed on the market in the Member States.

Cyprus, Ireland, Malta and Northern Ireland have historically relied on the supply of medicinal products from or through parts of the United Kingdom other than Northern Ireland, and the supply chains for those markets have not yet been fully adapted to comply with Union law. To prevent shortages of medicinal products and ultimately to ensure a high level of public health protection, Directives 2001/20/EC and 2001/83/EC need to be amended to provide for derogations for medicinal products supplied to Cyprus, Ireland, Malta and Northern Ireland from or through parts of the United Kingdom other than Northern Ireland. In order to ensure uniform application of Union law in the Member States, the derogations applicable in Cyprus, Ireland and Malta should be of a temporary nature only.

In accordance with Article 13(1) of Directive 2001/20/EC, read in conjunction with the Protocol, the import of investigational medicinal products from third countries into the Union or Northern Ireland is subject to the holding of a manufacturing and import authorisation. To ensure continued access to new, innovative...