Belgium - New Royal Decree Gives Federal Government Special Temporary Powers to Tackle Medicine Shortages

• 21/04/2021
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The Belgian Official Journal of 19 April 2021 contains a Royal Decree of 8 April 2021 “providing special measures to combat shortages of medicines in the framework of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic” (the Royal Decree) (see, attachment). The Royal Decree confers on the federal Minister responsible for public health and the Administrator General of the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products the power to take a range of measures to ensure the adequate distribution of and access to medicines in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
The Royal Decree is a stopgap to cover for the period between the expiry on 31 March 2021 of the previous, more wide-ranging Royal Decree of 24 March 2020 (see, Van Bael & Bellis Life Sciences News Alert of 26 March 2020) and the expected adoption of an emergency medicines law by the federal Parliament in May or June 2021 which will offer the federal government broader special powers to tackle medicine shortages, irrespective of the nature and origin of the health crisis.
 
The measures taken on the basis of the Royal Decree cannot last longer than renewable periods of one month, subject to a total of 12 months. The Royal Decree will expire on 30 June 2021.