Medicines Act 1968

108 Enforcement in England and Wales

(1) It shall be the duty of the appropriate Minister to enforce in England and Wales, or to secure the enforcement in England and Wales of, the provisions of this Act and any regulations and orders made under it.

(2) For the purpose of performing that duty in relation to—

(a) the provisions of any order made under paragraph (a) of section 62(1) of this Act and of section 63(b), sections 64 and 65, subsections (3) to (5) of section 85, and sections 87(2), 88(3) and 89(2) of this Act, in the application of any of those provisions to the retail sale, offer or exposure for retail sale, or possession for the purpose of retail sale, of medicinal products and to the supply, offer or exposure for supply, or possession for the purpose of supply, of medicinal products in circumstances corresponding to retail sale ;

(b) the provisions of subsections (2) and (3) of section 86 of this Act, in their application to the supply, or possession for the purpose of supply, of leaflets with medicinal products sold or to be sold by retail, or supplied or to be supplied in circumstances corresponding to retail sale ; and

(c) the provisions of sections 93 and 94 of this Act and any regulations made under section 95 of this Act,

the appropriate Minister shall, in respect of each area for which there is a food and drugs authority, make arrangements or give directions whereby the Pharmaceutical Society, or the food and drugs authority for that area, or both the Society and that authority, to such extent as, in the case of that Society or authority, the arrangements or directions may provide, shall have power concurrently with the appropriate Minister, or shall be under a duty concurrently with him, to enforce the provisions specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection, in their application as mentioned in those paragraphs, and the provisions and regulations specified in paragraph (c) of this subsection.

(3) Any arrangements made with, or directions given to, the Pharmaceutical Society under subsection (2) of this section, in so far as they relate to the provisions and regulations specified in paragraph (c) of that subsection, shall be limited to the enforcement of those provisions and regulations in respect of—

(a) any advertisement issued or representation made on or in any premises, ship, aircraft, vehicle, stall or place where medicinal products are sold by retail or are supplied in circumstances corresponding to retail sale, and

(b) any advertisement displayed on, or in close proximity to, an automatic machine in which medicinal products are offered or exposed for sale.

(4) Regulations made jointly by the Minister of Health and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food may provide that any such body to which this subsection applies as may be specified in the regulations shall, to such extent as in the case of that body may be so specified, and either—

(a) in respect of England and Wales generally, or

(b) in respect of such area in England or Wales as may be so specified,

have power concurrently with the appropriate Minister, or be under a duty concurrently with him, to enforce any regulations made under section 66 of this Act.

(5) Subsection (4) of this section applies to the following bodies, that is to say, the Pharmaceutical Society, any food and drugs authority, the council of any county district which is not a food and drugs authority, and the overseers of the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple.

(6) The Pharmaceutical Society shall be under a duty, concurrently with the appropriate Minister.—

(a) to enforce the provisions of sections 52 and 58 of this Act in their application to England and Wales;

(b) to enforce the provisions of any regulations made under section 60 or section 61 of this Act in their application to premises in England and Wales at which medicinal products are sold by retail or are supplied in circumstances corresponding to retail sale ; and

(c) to enforce the provisions of sections 77 and 78 of this Act, and of any regulations made under section 79(2) of this Act, in their application to England and Wales.

(7) Regulations made jointly by the Minister of Health and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food may provide that, in respect of each area in England or Wales for which there is a food and drugs authority, the Pharmaceutical Society, or the food and drugs authority for that area, or both the Society and that authority, to such extent as, in the case of that Society or authority, the regulations may provide, shall have power concurrently with the appropriate Minister, or shall be under a duty concurrently with him, to enforce the provisions of sections 53 and 54 of this Act.

(8) The council of every county or county borough in England and Wales, the council of every London borough and the Common Council of the City of London shall be under a duty, concurrently with the appropriate Minister, to enforce in their area—

(a) any order made under paragraph (b) of section 62(1) of this Act, and

(b) the provisions of section 90 of this Act and any regulations made by virtue of that section.

(9) Notwithstanding anything in subsections (2) to (8) of this section, no duty or power conferred or imposed by or under any of those subsections shall be performed or be exercisable in relation to—

(a) any hospital, or

(b) so much of any premises as is used by a practitioner for carrying on his practice, or

(c) so much of any premises (not falling within either of the preceding paragraphs) as is used for veterinary medicine or veterinary surgery for the purposes of any institution.

(10) If the appropriate Minister is satisfied, after making such inquiry as he thinks fit, that the Pharmaceutical Society or any other body on whom a duty to enforce any provisions is imposed by or under subsections (4) to (8) of this section have in relation to any matter failed to perform that duty, and that the public interest requires that the provisions in question should be enforced in relation to it, he may determine that he will himself enforce those provisions in relation to that matter.

(11) In this section " the appropriate Minister "—

(a) in relation to the performance of any function under this section (whether by making any arrangements or giving any direction or otherwise) where the function is or is to be performed exclusively in relation to veterinary drugs, or to section 90 of this Act or any regulations made by virtue of that section, means the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and

(b) in all other respects, means the Minister of Health.