Is BPC-157 Legal? Global Status Guide
Category: Healing · Tracked in 158 countries
15
Legal110
Grey Area4
Prescription29
BannedCan You Buy BPC-157?
Whether you can buy BPC-157 depends on your country. It is legal to purchase in 15 countries, including Jamaica, Anguilla, St Lucia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Honduras, and 7 more. A prescription is required in 4 countries, including Aruba, New Zealand, Ireland, Singapore. It falls into a legal grey area in 110 countries (United States, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, Belgium, Andorra, Sint Eustatius, Nicaragua, Curacao, and 102 more), where it may be available for research but not for human use. It is banned in 29 countries: Vietnam, Zambia, Cuba, Botswana, Cameroon, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Bolivia, and 21 more.
Traveling with BPC-157
Traveling internationally with BPC-157 requires understanding local laws at your destination. Do not carry BPC-157 into countries where it is banned (Vietnam, Zambia, Cuba, Botswana, Cameroon, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Bolivia, and 21 more) — you could face serious legal consequences. In countries requiring a prescription (Aruba, New Zealand, Ireland, Singapore), carry a valid prescription or doctor's letter. Always declare pharmaceutical products at customs and check the latest regulations before traveling.
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BPC-157 Legal Status by Country (158)
| Country | Status | Rx Required | Schedule | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anguilla | Legal | No | Not Scheduled | British OT with UK-style drug law. Peptides not scheduled. No MHRA direct enforcement. De facto unregulated. | Unsourced |
| British Virgin Islands | Legal | No | Not Scheduled | British OT with UK-style drug law. Peptides not scheduled. No MHRA direct enforcement. De facto unregulated. | Official |
| Cayman Islands | Legal | No | Unregistered | Not specifically addressed by national pharmaceutical law. Falls under general medicines/drugs act. De facto grey area. | Secondary |
| Dominica | Legal | No | Not Scheduled | Not listed in national Misuse of Drugs Act. Not specifically regulated. General pharmaceutical law applies. | Unsourced |
| Dominican Republic | Legal | No | Unregistered | Not specifically addressed by national pharmaceutical law. Falls under general medicines/drugs act. De facto grey area. | Official |
| Grenada | Legal | No | Not Scheduled | Not listed in national Misuse of Drugs Act. Not specifically regulated. General pharmaceutical law applies. | Unsourced |
| Honduras | Legal | No | Not Scheduled | Not scheduled. ARSA has minimal enforcement capacity. Roatan especially relaxed. | Official |
| Jamaica | Legal | No | Unregistered | Not specifically addressed by national pharmaceutical law. Falls under general medicines/drugs act. De facto grey area. | Official |
| Papua New Guinea | Legal | No | Not Scheduled | Not specifically regulated. PNG lacks capacity to evaluate novel peptides. No local market for research peptides. Import theoretically requires PSSB registration but enforcement is minimal for personal quantities. | Official |
| Philippines | Legal | No | Unregistered | Not FDA Philippines registered. Not specifically addressed. Grey area. | Official |
| Samoa | Legal | No | Not Scheduled | Not specifically regulated under Samoa Pharmacy Act 2007. No local peptide market. Minimal pharmaceutical enforcement capacity. Ministry of Health has limited regulatory resources. | Official |
| St Lucia | Legal | No | Not Scheduled | Not listed in national Misuse of Drugs Act. Not specifically regulated. General pharmaceutical law applies. | Unsourced |
| St Vincent and the Grenadines | Legal | No | Not Scheduled | Not listed in national Misuse of Drugs Act. Not specifically regulated. General pharmaceutical law applies. | Unsourced |
| Tonga | Legal | No | Not Scheduled | Not specifically regulated. Tonga Pharmacy Board oversees pharmacy practice but has no specific peptide scheduling. Minimal enforcement for novel pharmaceutical imports. | Official |
| Vanuatu | Legal | No | Not Scheduled | Not specifically regulated. Vanuatu Medicines and Pharmaceutical Services (VMPS) under Ministry of Health has limited enforcement capacity. No peptide scheduling or monitoring. | Official |
| Algeria | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not ANPP registered. Art. 179 of Law 18-11 prohibits dispensing without prescription. ANPP (est. 2018 under Art. 223) regulates all pharmaceutical products. Serialization mandatory per 2025 decree (Arrêté N°25). Drug import requires prior marketing in country of origin + third country. | Secondary |
| Andorra | Grey Area | No | Reconeixement Paisos Referents | Andorra is not in the EU, so EMA authorisation does not apply of its own force - but the position tracks its neighbours by statute, not merely in practice. Llei general de sanitat (20 March 1989) art. 40(1) empowers the Government to recognise directly the marketing authorisations issued by the competent authorities of the reference countries. The Reglament de Medicaments of 4 October 1977 goes further: art. 1 provides that in the absence of Andorran tables, FRENCH regulation applies, and that anything on the narcotics list of a neighbouring country is automatically in Table B; art. 10 provides that human medicines follow the MORE LIBERAL of the two neighbouring regimes for toxic and dangerous substances, and the MORE RESTRICTIVE for narcotics. In practice a peptide unauthorised in both France and Spain is unauthorised in Andorra. Custody and dispensing are reserved to authorised pharmacies (art. 46), and importers require prior authorisation (art. 43). Penalties under the health law are administrative: fines to EUR 100,000 for very serious infringements, with criminal referral preserved separately. | Official |
| Angola | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not INABEC registered. Marketing Authorization from INABEC required before import/sale. Significant enforcement gaps — only 33 staff at central level, 2 inspectors per province. Research peptides not addressed. Labels must be in Portuguese. | Secondary |
| Antigua and Barbuda | Grey Area | No | Reform Pending | Currently governed by the Pharmacy Act 1995 (as amended 2019) and the Antibiotics and Therapeutic Substances Act, Cap. 17, neither of which operates a general product-approval regime reaching peptides. A draft Pharmacy Bill 2026, published November 2025, would change this substantially: it defines unlicensed or unregistered medical products, requires imported products to be registered and approved in the country of origin and by a WHO Listed Authority or recommended by the Caribbean Regulatory System, and introduces marketing authorisation based on quality, safety and efficacy. Clause 33 targets courier and mail-order supply directly, requiring an import licence from the Council plus the original prescription from a locally registered practitioner and proof the drug is unavailable locally, with a stated maximum of three months for personal use. Clause 36 requires any injectable supplement to be prescribed. Proposed penalties are severe: EC$40,000 and 12 months generally, and a minimum EC$500,000 fine and up to 5 years for knowingly supplying substandard or falsified drugs. THIS IS A DRAFT BILL, NOT LAW - re-check enactment before relying on it. | Official |
| Austria | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | No EMA authorization. Unauthorized medicine under EU Directive 2001/83/EC. Research-label purchase tolerated in most countries. WADA banned (S0). | Secondary |
| Bahamas | Grey Area | No | No Product Registration Regime | The Bahamas has NO drug marketing-authorisation system. The Pharmacy Act, Ch. 227 (Act No. 8 of 2009) registers people and premises and licenses manufacturers and wholesalers, but does not require a product to be approved before sale - claims that the Bahamas operates drug registration are incorrect. What binds instead: s.27 requires every drug manufactured, offered for sale, imported or exported to meet a pharmacopoeial standard (BP, USP, Ph. Eur., Int. Ph. or another approved by the Minister), with a fine up to BSD 20,000 - a research-grade peptide with no pharmacopoeial monograph fails that test. Section 28 refers import and export control to the Customs Management Act rather than medicines law. Section 33 requires factory and warehouse registration for manufacture or import for storage and wholesale distribution, fine up to BSD 15,000. Note also s.30(5): a prescription expressly does NOT include one transmitted electronically via the internet, which bears directly on online-prescriber models. No traveller allowance was located in the Pharmacy Act. | Official |
| Bangladesh | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Not registered with DGDA. Unregistered drugs cannot be legally manufactured or imported. DGDA is sole licensing authority under 2023 Act. No local peptide research market. Enforcement focused on counterfeit essential medicines. | Official |
| Barbados | Grey Area | No | Not Within Scheduled Substances | No product marketing-authorisation regime was located. The Barbados National Drug Formulary is a public-benefit reimbursement list, not a market authorisation - the two should not be conflated. The operative import control is the Therapeutic Substances Act, Cap. 330 (1949-40, in force 1 December 1950), s.6 of which makes it unlawful to import a drug or therapeutic substance to which the Act applies without a licence from the Licensing Authority (the Chief Medical Officer), manufacture by an approved pharmaceutical firm, and compliance with prescribed standards. BUT the Act's Schedule covers only sulphonamides, penicillin, streptomycin, oleandomycin and other antibiotic substances - a therapeutic peptide is NOT within it, so Cap. 330's import licence does not bite. The remaining constraints are the Pharmacy Act Cap. 372 (poisons and dispensing) and customs. The Cap. 330 penalty is BBD 480 or three months and has not been uprated since 1950. | Official |
| Belgium | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | No EMA authorization. Unauthorized medicine under EU Directive 2001/83/EC. Research-label purchase tolerated in most countries. WADA banned (S0). | Secondary |
| Bonaire | Grey Area | No | Wet Geneesmiddelenvoorziening Bes | Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba are Dutch public bodies, but the Dutch Geneesmiddelenwet does NOT extend to them - the applicable statute is the separate Wet op de geneesmiddelenvoorziening BES, cited by article in Staatscourant 2025 nr. 28064. Enforcement sits with the Dutch health inspectorate (IGJ) and the Minister of VWS. An adviescommissie geneesmiddelenvoorziening BES was established on 4 August 2025, but its remit is pharmacy establishment licensing, not product approval. No BES medicines-registration provision was located, so registration status, import rules, traveller allowance and penalties remain unverified for these islands. | Official |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Non-EU (EU candidate). ALMBIH (Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices) established 2009. Complex federal structure (Federation of BiH + Republika Srpska). Not registered as medicine. Research-label purchase tolerated. WADA banned (S0). Fines 5000-15000 BAM for violations. | Official |
| Brunei | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Not registered with BDMCA. Unregistered medicinal products cannot be marketed or imported into Brunei. Strict Islamic-influenced drug control but enforcement focused on narcotics. Peptides fall in regulatory gap. | Secondary |
| Bulgaria | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | EU member. No EMA authorization. Unauthorized medicine under EU Directive 2001/83/EC. Research-label purchase tolerated. WADA banned (S0). | Official |
| Cambodia | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Extremely loose enforcement. Prescription drugs widely sold OTC without prescription. Khamer Pharma manufactures peptides and steroids locally (MOH approved). Research chemicals and peptides readily available. March 2025 draft law revision may tighten rules. | Official |
| Cape Verde | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not ARFA registered. Marketing authorization governed by Regulation 09/2014 and Decree-Law 59/2006. Simplified Special Import Procedure available for unregistered medicines with doctor prescription. SIMFAR monitoring system tracks pharmaceutical market. Small island nation with limited enforcement capacity. | Secondary |
| Croatia | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | EU member. No EMA authorization. BPC-157 was DISCOVERED at University of Zagreb by Prof. Predrag Sikiric (1992). Nearly all published research (~150 papers) originates from his lab. Was in IBD clinical trials (Pliva pharmaceutical). WADA banned (S0). Despite Croatian origin not approved domestically. | Official |
| Curacao | Grey Area | No | Landsverordening Geneesmiddelenvoorziening | Curacao is an autonomous country with its own Landsverordening op de geneesmiddelenvoorziening, descended from Netherlands Antilles law - Dutch and EU medicines law do not apply. The ordinance is confirmed in force and actively administered, with implementing decrees still being consolidated, including a Landsbesluit under article 28(1) whose consolidated text was established on 7 May 2026 (P.B. 2026 no. 155). However the ordinance's own text is not published on the government law portal, so its provisions on registration, import, prescription status and penalties could not be verified. | Official |
| Cyprus | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Not authorized by Cyprus Pharmaceutical Services (Drug Council). EU member state follows EMA framework. No marketing authorization. Cannot be legally sold for human use. Research chemical import theoretically possible under EU research exemptions. | Secondary |
| Czech Republic | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | Home of Janoshik testing lab. Major research chemical hub. Most permissive enforcement in EU. As an EU member state, Article 6(1) of Directive 2001/83/EC applies: no medicinal product may be placed on the market of a Member State unless a marketing authorisation has been issued by the competent authorities of that Member State or under the centralised procedure. No EU or national marketing authorisation for this substance was identified, so it is an unauthorised medicinal product. National regulator: SUKL (Czechia) / EOF (Greece). Country-specific offence provisions and penalties have NOT been verified for this jurisdiction. | Official |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not ACOREP registered. Very limited regulatory capacity. ACOREP responsible for medicine quality and safety. SNAM decree (Sept 2025) reformed national drug supply system. Research peptides not addressed. Minimal enforcement outside Kinshasa. | Official |
| Denmark | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | No EMA authorization. Unauthorized medicine under EU Directive 2001/83/EC. Research-label purchase tolerated in most countries. WADA banned (S0). | Official |
| Ecuador | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | No ARCSA registration. Grey area. Regulatory reforms ongoing. | Secondary |
| Egypt | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | EDA registration required for commercial sale. Research peptides not specifically addressed. Grey area. | Official |
| El Salvador | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not scheduled but higher enforcement capacity than neighbors. SRS has broad authority. | Secondary |
| Estonia | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | EU member. No EMA authorization. Unauthorized medicine under EU Directive 2001/83/EC. Research-label purchase tolerated. WADA banned (S0). | Official |
| Ethiopia | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not EFDA registered. No specific peptide regulation. Research peptides not addressed by regulatory framework. No domestic peptide market. Import would require EFDA clearance but enforcement minimal for personal quantities. | Official |
| Fiji | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not registered with Fiji MRA. No specific peptide regulations. Import permit required for all medicinal products. Research chemicals not specifically addressed. Low enforcement capacity. | Official |
| Finland | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | No EMA authorization. Unauthorized medicine under EU Directive 2001/83/EC. Research-label purchase tolerated in most countries. WADA banned (S0). | Official |
| France | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | No EMA or ANSM authorisation. France criminalises simple POSSESSION of prohibited doping substances without duly justified medical reason: Code du sport art. L232-26 I — 1 year imprisonment and EUR 3,750. Producing or importing for athletes' use, or administering, carries 5 years and EUR 75,000; 7 years and EUR 150,000 in aggravated cases. Personal importation of medicines is capped at three months of standard treatment (Code de la sante publique art. R5121-110), with documentation required at customs for non-baggage consignments (art. R5121-114). | Official |
| French Guiana | Grey Area | No | Unauthorized Medicine | French Code de la Sante Publique applies. Unauthorized medicine. ANSM framework. | Official |
| Georgia | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Non-EU. Independent regulatory system. Historically very liberal pharmaceutical access — many prescription drugs obtainable without Rx until 2014 tightening. Since Sept 2014 antibiotics and 6000+ medicines moved to prescription-only. However enforcement remains weak — 32.6% self-medication rate. BPC-157 falls outside current regulation. Research chemicals essentially unregulated. | Official |
| Germany | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | Unauthorised medicinal product under the Arzneimittelgesetz (AMG). Placing on the market or unlicensed trade is punishable under AMG s.95 (up to 3 years; 1-10 years in aggravated cases). NOT listed in the AntiDopG annex, which is a closed list — so the doping-specific criminal offences in AntiDopG s.2 do not apply to BPC-157. Direct mail order from outside the EU is not permitted under AMG s.73. | Official |
| Ghana | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not FDA Ghana registered. All drugs require marketing authorization. British-influenced framework. Three-class medicine system: Class A (prescription only), Class B (pharmacist dispensed), Class C (OTC). BPC-157 not classified under any class. No domestic peptide market. FDA Ghana focused on herbal medicine regulation and food safety. | Official |
| Greece | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | No EMA authorization. Unauthorized medicine under EU Directive 2001/83/EC. Research-label purchase tolerated in most countries. WADA banned (S0). As an EU member state, Article 6(1) of Directive 2001/83/EC applies: no medicinal product may be placed on the market of a Member State unless a marketing authorisation has been issued by the competent authorities of that Member State or under the centralised procedure. No EU or national marketing authorisation for this substance was identified, so it is an unauthorised medicinal product. National regulator: SUKL (Czechia) / EOF (Greece). Country-specific offence provisions and penalties have NOT been verified for this jurisdiction. | Official |
| Guatemala | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not specifically regulated. No explicit ban or approval. Grey area. | Secondary |
| Hong Kong | Grey Area | No | Unregistered Pharmaceutical | Unregistered pharmaceutical product. Pharmacy and Poisons Regulations (Cap. 138A) reg. 36(1) prohibits selling, offering for sale, distributing, or POSSESSING for the purposes of sale, distribution "or other use" any pharmaceutical product that is not registered with the Pharmacy and Poisons Board. The reg. 36(1A) exemptions are narrow (re-export, licensed manufacture, treatment of a particular patient by a registered practitioner, export, clinical trial) and do not cover general personal use. Penalty under Cap. 138 s.34: fine at level 6 (HKD 100,000) and 2 years' imprisonment. Forfeiture may be ordered under s.36 whether or not anyone is convicted. Note: no primary source establishing a personal-use tolerance was found — do not assume personal possession is safe. | Official |
| Hungary | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | EU member. No EMA authorization. Unauthorized medicine under EU Directive 2001/83/EC. Research-label purchase tolerated. WADA banned (S0). Hungarian Competition Authority fined C-peptide cosmetics for false medical claims (2021). | Official |
| Iceland | Grey Area | No | WADA S2 (peptide hormones); unauthorized medicine | Not authorized by IMA. Classified under WADA S2 (peptide hormones/growth factors). PROHIBITED to import by mail/parcel delivery. Luggage import limited to 30-day supply with physician certificate. Only EMA-authorized medicines may be marketed. EEA member follows EU pharmaceutical directives. | Official |
| India | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | India is a major peptide manufacturer. Research peptides widely available. Enforcement minimal on personal use. Pharmacies accessible. | Official |
| Iran | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Not registered with IFDA. All pharmaceutical products require IFDA regulatory approval. Sanctions complicate imports. Domestic pharma focused on essential medicines. No research peptide market. | Secondary |
| Iraq | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Not registered with Iraqi Directorate of Technical Affairs. All medicines require marketing authorization. However enforcement is severely weakened post-conflict. Large informal pharmaceutical market. Substandard and falsified medicines widespread in private sector. | Official |
| Israel | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not MOH registered. Israeli biotech researches peptides actively but consumer access restricted. Import requires authorization. | Official |
| Italy | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | No EMA or AIFA authorisation — an unauthorised medicinal product. Criminal exposure runs through Codice Penale art. 586-bis (NOT Law 376/2000 art.9, which was repealed by D.Lgs. 21/2018). Art. 586-bis punishes procuring, administering or TAKING ("assume") listed doping-class substances without medical justification: 3 months to 3 years and a fine. Its trafficking limb — commerce outside pharmacies and authorised structures — carries 2 to 6 years, and following Corte cost. 105/2022 no longer requires proof of any sporting purpose. Whether this specific compound sits in the Ministry of Health doping classes was not verified. | Official |
| Ivory Coast | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not registered with AIRP. WAEMU harmonized registration framework applies. Research peptides not specifically addressed. Registration process takes 12-24 months. Limited enforcement capacity. | Official |
| Japan | Grey Area | No | Unapproved Drug | No PMDA approval. Treated as unapproved drug under PMD Act. No research chemical exemption. Import limited to 1-month personal supply. | Official |
| Jordan | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not JFDA registered. Unauthorized drug. | Official |
| Kenya | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not specifically regulated by PPB. No marketing authorization. British-influenced pharmaceutical framework. PPB focused on counterfeit medicines and GLP-1 misuse, not research peptides. No established domestic peptide research vendor market. Import from international vendors likely not intercepted. | Official |
| Laos | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | FDD registration required on paper but enforcement weak. Pharmacies do not require prescriptions in practice. Drug classification system exists but not enforced for peptides. | Official |
| Latvia | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | EU member. No EMA authorization. Unauthorized medicine under EU Directive 2001/83/EC. Research-label purchase tolerated. WADA banned (S0). | Official |
| Lebanon | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Not registered with MOPH Drug Registration Technical Committee. All pharma products must be registered at MOPH. Economic crisis has severely weakened pharmaceutical regulation and enforcement. Drug shortages widespread. | Official |
| Libya | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not NCDCR registered. Libya lacks formal drug scheduling system. Pharmaceutical Affairs Dept handles registration/licensing. GS1 DataMatrix barcodes mandatory for all pharma imports per Decision 379/2023. Ongoing instability limits enforcement. | Secondary |
| Liechtenstein | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Not authorized. Liechtenstein is EEA member (EFTA). Follows EU pharmaceutical acquis via EEA Agreement. Accepts EMA centrally authorized products. No national authorization for BPC-157. Regulatory alignment with Austria. | Unofficial |
| Lithuania | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | EU member. No EMA authorization. Unauthorized medicine under EU Directive 2001/83/EC. Research-label purchase tolerated. WADA banned (S0). | Official |
| Luxembourg | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | No marketing authorization. EU member state follows EMA framework. Pharmacy and Medication Department of National Health Directorate oversees pharmaceutical regulation. Luxembourg establishing ALMPS (national medicines agency). | Secondary |
| Madagascar | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not AMM registered. Research peptides not addressed by AMM. Market Authorization (AMM) required for all medicines per Art. 4 of Decree 2010-960. Minimal enforcement capacity outside Antananarivo. | Official |
| Malawi | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not PMRA registered. PMRA (est. 2019, replacing PMPB) regulates medicines, pharmacy professions, and pharmaceutical businesses. Research peptides not specifically addressed. Clinical Trials Amendment Regulations 2025 signed April 2025. | Official |
| Malaysia | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | NPRA registration required. Not approved. Grey area but enforcement moderate. | Official |
| Maldives | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | MFDA registration required for all medicines. Not registered. Import requires MFDA authorization. Physical inspection at port of entry. No postal import of pharmaceuticals allowed. | Official |
| Malta | Grey Area | No | Unauthorized Medicine | EU member state. Full harmonization with EU pharmaceutical law. Any compound for human therapeutic use requires EMA or MMA marketing authorization. Research chemicals not authorized for human consumption. Import from non-EU requires Manufacturer's Authorization for Import (MIA). Borderline Classification Committee determines medicine vs non-medicine status. | Official |
| Mauritius | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | All pharmaceutical products imported only by licensed wholesalers through Pharmacy Board. BPC-157 not specifically regulated. Personal medicine import allowed with doctor's note (3-month supply prescription, 1-month controlled). No domestic peptide market. Medical tourism destination but peptide clinics not established. | Official |
| Mexico | Grey Area | No | Sin Registro Sanitario | No registro sanitario. Ley General de Salud art. 376 requires sanitary registration for medicines. Unregistered products may be imported ONLY under a COFEPRIS permit, and only for the four purposes in Reglamento de Insumos para la Salud art. 132: contingency, health policy, scientific research/registration/PERSONAL USE, or laboratory testing. A personal-import permit requires that the quantity correspond to what is covered by a medical prescription; it is filed through VUCEM, is valid 180 days and renewable once (RIS art. 160). Customs interdicts, COFEPRIS adjudicates. Manufacturing medicines without the required registrations carries 3 to 15 years under LGS art. 464 Ter. Note: buying an unregistered peptide over the counter in a Mexican pharmacy is not a lawful transaction - the gap between this and observed practice is an enforcement gap, not a legal permission. COFEPRIS has not published an alert naming these specific compounds. | Official |
| Monaco | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Monaco follows French pharmaceutical law via 1963 bilateral convention. DASS (Direction de l'Action Sanitaire et Sociale) cooperates with French ANSM. No marketing authorization. Same status as in France — unauthorized medicinal product. | Official |
| Montenegro | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Non-EU (EU candidate). Independent regulatory system aligning with EU. CALIMS/CInMED regulates. Not registered as medicine. Research-label purchase tolerated. WADA banned (S0). Low enforcement capacity. | Official |
| Montserrat | Grey Area | No | Not Within Scheduled Substances | No general medicines-approval law was located. Control rests on an Antibiotics and Therapeutic Substances Act of 1949-1951 vintage (Montserrat Cap. 14.14, Act 9 of 1950; Saint Kitts and Nevis Cap. 9.04) which requires an import licence, approved manufacturer and prescribed standards - but whose Schedule lists only penicillin, streptomycin, aureomycin, chloromycetin, sulphonamides, terramycin, bacitracin and neomycin. PEPTIDES ARE NOT WITHIN THAT SCHEDULE, so the import licence does not apply to them. In Turks and Caicos the position is similar: the Poisons Ordinance Cap. 8.05 requires a practitioner's written prescription for any declared poison, but its Schedule is a 1901-era list and does not include peptides; there is no medicines registration ordinance and no pharmacy ordinance. Penalties where the statutes do apply are negligible - EC$480 or six months in Montserrat, USD 5,000 in Turks and Caicos. The binding constraints for a novel non-scheduled substance in these jurisdictions are prescription-only supply, pharmacy and importer licensing, and customs, not medicines law. | Official |
| Morocco | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | No specific peptide regulation. All pharmaceutical products require Marketing Authorization (AMM) from DMP/AMMPS. BPC-157 has no AMM. No domestic peptide vendor market. French-influenced pharma law treats unregistered medicines strictly. Import for personal use requires medical justification. | Official |
| Mozambique | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not ANARME registered. No specific peptide regulation. Research peptides not addressed. ANARME established 2019 as autonomous regulatory body. Still building regulatory capacity. | Secondary |
| Myanmar | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Virtually no enforcement. All prescription drugs including steroids and antibiotics sold OTC. FDA Myanmar has minimal inspection capacity. Budget constraints prevent active monitoring. Drug shops operate without licensed pharmacists. | Official |
| Namibia | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | All medicines require NMRC registration. South African-influenced regulatory framework (both use similar Medicines Act structure). NMRC has quality surveillance laboratory. Personal import of scheduled substances for medicinal use permitted in specified quantities. Currently reviewing/strengthening regulatory framework with WHO assistance (Oct 2025 self-benchmarking). | Official |
| Nepal | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | DDA registration required but enforcement weak. Drug Act classifies hormones under Category KHA (b) requiring prescription. Peptides not specifically categorized. Online pharmacies deliver prescription medicines without prescriptions. | Official |
| Netherlands | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | Unauthorised medicinal product. Geneesmiddelenwet art. 40(2) prohibits stocking, offering for sale, selling, delivering, dispensing, IMPORTING or exporting a medicine without a marketing authorisation — the operative article contains no personal-use carve-out. Art. 61(1) restricts supply of prescription-only medicines to pharmacists and licensed dispensing GPs. Enforcement by IGJ via administrative fines up to the sixth category (art. 101), escalating to criminal liability on repeat breach. No Dutch criminal anti-doping statute was located. | Official |
| Nicaragua | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not specifically regulated. No explicit ban or approval. Grey area. | Unofficial |
| Nigeria | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not NAFDAC registered. All pharmaceutical products must be registered before manufacture, import, or sale. British-influenced framework. NAFDAC enforcement focused heavily on counterfeit antimalarials, antibiotics, and now GLP-1 counterfeits. Research peptides not a priority. No domestic peptide vendor market. NAFDAC closed 11,000+ shops in counterfeit crackdowns but focused on mainstream drugs. | Official |
| North Macedonia | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Non-EU (EU candidate since 2005). MALMED (Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices) established 2014. Not registered as medicine. Research-label purchase tolerated. WADA banned (S0). Pharmaceutical tourism to Kosovo/Serbia for cheaper drugs common. | Secondary |
| Norway | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | Unauthorized medicine. Import for personal use prohibited without prescription. | Official |
| Pakistan | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Not registered with DRAP. Pakistan has large generic pharma industry but focused on conventional drugs. Peptide research chemicals not a significant market. Enforcement focused on counterfeit/substandard essential medicines. | Official |
| Panama | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not scheduled. Clinical peptide use at wellness/regenerative clinics (Auragens, BioGenesis, Regenerate Panama). Grey area low risk. | Secondary |
| Poland | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | Major EU peptide distribution hub. Enforcement permissive. Research vendors operate widely. Poland has no simple-possession offence, but the Ustawa o zwalczaniu dopingu w sporcie (Dz.U. 2017 poz. 1051) art. 49(1) criminalises making WADA group S1/S2/S4 substances available to third parties whether or not for payment, or holding them for that purpose, and art. 49(3) makes importing them contrary to Prawo farmaceutyczne art. 68 a standalone offence. Penalties: fine, restriction of liberty, or up to 3 years. Regulator: POLADA. | Official |
| Portugal | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | No EMA authorization. Unauthorized medicine under EU Directive 2001/83/EC. Research-label purchase tolerated in most countries. WADA banned (S0). | Secondary |
| Romania | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | EU member. No EMA authorization. Unauthorized medicine under EU Directive 2001/83/EC. Research-label purchase tolerated. WADA banned (S0). Low enforcement on research peptides. | Official |
| Russia | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not officially registered. Available from Russian research suppliers. Grey area. | Official |
| Rwanda | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | All regulated products must be Rwanda FDA registered before import/sale. Applications require effectiveness, safety, and quality data. Rwanda FDA has WHO ML3 maturity (achieved Dec 2024). First AU Member State to sign African Medicines Agency treaty (2019). EAC harmonization for abbreviated registration procedures. No domestic peptide market. | Official |
| Saba | Grey Area | No | Wet Geneesmiddelenvoorziening Bes | Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba are Dutch public bodies, but the Dutch Geneesmiddelenwet does NOT extend to them - the applicable statute is the separate Wet op de geneesmiddelenvoorziening BES, cited by article in Staatscourant 2025 nr. 28064. Enforcement sits with the Dutch health inspectorate (IGJ) and the Minister of VWS. An adviescommissie geneesmiddelenvoorziening BES was established on 4 August 2025, but its remit is pharmacy establishment licensing, not product approval. No BES medicines-registration provision was located, so registration status, import rules, traveller allowance and penalties remain unverified for these islands. | Official |
| Saint Barthelemy | Grey Area | No | Unauthorized Medicine | French Code de la Sante Publique applies. Unauthorized medicine. Personal use illegal. Limited local enforcement. | Official |
| Saint Martin (French) | Grey Area | No | Unauthorized Medicine | French Code de la Sante Publique applies. Unauthorized medicine. Personal use illegal. Limited local enforcement. | Official |
| Serbia | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Non-EU. Independent regulatory system (ALIMS). No EMA framework. BPC-157 not registered as medicine. Research-label purchase tolerated. Pharmacies known to sell prescription drugs without Rx. ~33% of Rx drugs obtained without prescription. | Official |
| Seychelles | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | No medicine registration system exists. Limited inspection activities. Pharmaceuticals reportedly easy to buy with few controls. Import permit technically required but enforcement weak. | Official |
| Sint Eustatius | Grey Area | No | Wet Geneesmiddelenvoorziening Bes | Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba are Dutch public bodies, but the Dutch Geneesmiddelenwet does NOT extend to them - the applicable statute is the separate Wet op de geneesmiddelenvoorziening BES, cited by article in Staatscourant 2025 nr. 28064. Enforcement sits with the Dutch health inspectorate (IGJ) and the Minister of VWS. An adviescommissie geneesmiddelenvoorziening BES was established on 4 August 2025, but its remit is pharmacy establishment licensing, not product approval. No BES medicines-registration provision was located, so registration status, import rules, traveller allowance and penalties remain unverified for these islands. | Official |
| Sint Maarten | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Dutch-style framework. Not scheduled under Opium Act BES. Unauthorized medicine if marketed for human use. De facto unregulated. | Unsourced |
| Slovakia | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | EU member. No EMA authorization. Unauthorized medicine under EU Directive 2001/83/EC. Research-label purchase tolerated. WADA banned (S0). | Official |
| Slovenia | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | EU member. No EMA authorization. Unauthorized medicine under EU Directive 2001/83/EC. Research-label purchase tolerated. WADA banned (S0). Slovenian researchers involved in BPC-157 research alongside Croatian University of Zagreb team. | Official |
| South Korea | Grey Area | No | Unapproved Drug | Not MFDS approved. Unapproved drug under Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. No research chemical loophole. | Official |
| Spain | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | No AEMPS authorisation. Two criminal routes: Codigo Penal art. 361 punishes importing, supplying, marketing or storing unauthorised medicines where a risk to health arises (6 months to 3 years plus fine and disqualification); and art. 362 quinquies punishes prescribing, supplying, dispensing or administering prohibited doping substances without therapeutic justification to athletes INCLUDING non-federated recreational participants (6 months to 2 years). Distance/online sale of prescription medicines is prohibited outright (RDL 1/2015 art. 3.5). The anti-doping statute LO 11/2021 imposes administrative, not criminal, sanctions. | Official |
| Sri Lanka | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | NMRA registration required for all medicines. Not registered. Products must have prior approval from US FDA/Health Canada/EMA/TGA. WHO GMP mandatory. Import without authorization prohibited. Personal use import limited to 100 doses with NMRA Letter of Authorization. | Official |
| St Kitts and Nevis | Grey Area | No | Not Within Scheduled Substances | No general medicines-approval law was located. Control rests on an Antibiotics and Therapeutic Substances Act of 1949-1951 vintage (Montserrat Cap. 14.14, Act 9 of 1950; Saint Kitts and Nevis Cap. 9.04) which requires an import licence, approved manufacturer and prescribed standards - but whose Schedule lists only penicillin, streptomycin, aureomycin, chloromycetin, sulphonamides, terramycin, bacitracin and neomycin. PEPTIDES ARE NOT WITHIN THAT SCHEDULE, so the import licence does not apply to them. In Turks and Caicos the position is similar: the Poisons Ordinance Cap. 8.05 requires a practitioner's written prescription for any declared poison, but its Schedule is a 1901-era list and does not include peptides; there is no medicines registration ordinance and no pharmacy ordinance. Penalties where the statutes do apply are negligible - EC$480 or six months in Montserrat, USD 5,000 in Turks and Caicos. The binding constraints for a novel non-scheduled substance in these jurisdictions are prescription-only supply, pharmacy and importer licensing, and customs, not medicines law. | Official |
| Suriname | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not specifically regulated. No explicit ban or approval. Grey area. | Unsourced |
| Sweden | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | Unauthorised medicinal product under Lakemedelslag (2015:315) ch.5 s.1 — may not be sold until approved. Falls OUTSIDE Lag (1991:1969) om forbud mot vissa dopningsmedel, whose s.1 reaches anabolic steroids, testosterone and derivatives, growth hormone, and substances increasing production or release of those — BPC-157 is not a growth-hormone or testosterone secretagogue. Travellers may bring medicines for personal medical use (ch.9 s.3); that exemption is framed around travellers, not postal consignments. | Official |
| Switzerland | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | No EMA authorization. Unauthorized medicine under EU Directive 2001/83/EC. Research-label purchase tolerated in most countries. WADA banned (S0). | Official |
| Taiwan | Grey Area | No | Unapproved Drug | Not TFDA approved. Unapproved drug. Import restricted. | Official |
| Tanzania | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | All products must be TMDA registered before import/sale. TMDA has Scheduling of Medicines Regulations (updated Dec 2025). BPC-157 not specifically listed. Import requires premises registration and import permits via online trader portal. TMDA achieved WHO ML3 regulatory maturity. More structured than some regional peers. | Official |
| Thailand | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not Thai FDA registered but widely available at Bangkok wellness/anti-aging clinics. Medical tourism hub. Low enforcement on research peptides. | Official |
| Tunisia | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | French-influenced pharma law. All medicines require Marketing Authorization from DPM. BPC-157 has no MA. No domestic peptide research market. DPM controls import of all drugs including biologics. WHO Collaborating Center for medicine registration since 1998. | Official |
| Turkey | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not TITCK registered. Medical tourism sector growing. Some wellness clinics emerging. Grey area. | Official |
| Turks and Caicos | Grey Area | No | Not Within Scheduled Substances | No general medicines-approval law was located. Control rests on an Antibiotics and Therapeutic Substances Act of 1949-1951 vintage (Montserrat Cap. 14.14, Act 9 of 1950; Saint Kitts and Nevis Cap. 9.04) which requires an import licence, approved manufacturer and prescribed standards - but whose Schedule lists only penicillin, streptomycin, aureomycin, chloromycetin, sulphonamides, terramycin, bacitracin and neomycin. PEPTIDES ARE NOT WITHIN THAT SCHEDULE, so the import licence does not apply to them. In Turks and Caicos the position is similar: the Poisons Ordinance Cap. 8.05 requires a practitioner's written prescription for any declared poison, but its Schedule is a 1901-era list and does not include peptides; there is no medicines registration ordinance and no pharmacy ordinance. Penalties where the statutes do apply are negligible - EC$480 or six months in Montserrat, USD 5,000 in Turks and Caicos. The binding constraints for a novel non-scheduled substance in these jurisdictions are prescription-only supply, pharmacy and importer licensing, and customs, not medicines law. | Official |
| Uganda | Grey Area | No | Unregistered | Not NDA registered. No specific peptide regulation. Research chemicals not addressed. No domestic peptide market. NDA focused on essential medicines and counterfeit prevention. | Official |
| Ukraine | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Non-EU. Independent regulatory system. SMDC oversees pharmaceutical regulation. Wartime adaptations since 2022 — simplified registration for medicines from EU/UK/US/Switzerland/Japan/Australia/Canada/WHO. BPC-157 not registered. Research-label available. Enforcement resources diverted to war effort. | Official |
| United Arab Emirates | Grey Area | Yes | Unregistered Medical Product | Unregistered medical product. Regulated under Federal Law No. 8 of 2019 on Medical Products, the Pharmacy Profession and Pharmaceutical Establishments (as amended by Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2023). The regulator is now the Emirates Drug Establishment (EDE), which has taken over drug functions from MOHAP. Not a controlled substance: none of these peptides appears on the EDE controlled and semi-controlled medicines list, so Federal Decree-Law 30/2021 on narcotics does not apply. Travellers may carry non-controlled prescription medicines for personal use in normal quantity without prior permit, but that concession is built around registered medicines and does not legitimise unapproved research peptides. | Official |
| United Kingdom | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled / Unauthorized | Unauthorised medicinal product. Selling, supplying or offering to supply is prohibited by the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 reg. 46(1); possessing one for the purpose of sale or supply is prohibited by reg. 46(3). Simple personal possession is not itself an offence. Not a controlled drug: the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Sch. 2 Part III lists somatropin, somatrem and somatotropin (Class C) but does NOT list growth-hormone secretagogues, so the MDA route does not apply to this compound. Regulator: MHRA. | Official |
| United States | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Not a controlled substance and not FDA-approved. Sale for human use violates the FDCA; possession is not criminal. On the FDA Category 2 do-not-compound list. The Pharmacy Compounding Advisory Committee voted 8-6 (1 abstention) on 23 Jul 2026 to recommend it for the 503A bulks list, against the advice of FDA scientists. The vote is non-binding and the FDA has not acted, so compounding remains impermissible. | Official |
| US Virgin Islands | Grey Area | No | Not Scheduled | Same as US federal law. FDA Category 2 — banned from compounding. Research sale tolerated but enforced. | Official |
| Zimbabwe | Grey Area | No | Unregistered Medicine | Regulated by MCAZ under the Medicines and Allied Substances Control Act [Chapter 15:03]. Selling an unregistered "specified medicine" is an offence under s.29(1), penalty under s.29(1a): a fine not exceeding level twelve or imprisonment not exceeding 2 years, or both. The registration duty attaches only once the Minister has declared a medicine or class to be "specified" by statutory instrument under s.28. The Minister may separately prohibit or control manufacture, possession, sale or use of any medicine under s.38(1), same penalty. Notably, personal importation sits OUTSIDE the permit regime: SI 57 of 2008 s.3(d) disapplies the Import and Export of Medicines Regulations entirely to medicines imported by an individual for personal use. Access to unregistered medicines for a named person runs through the s.75 exemption power. | Official |
| Aruba | Prescription | No | Landsverordening Geneesmiddelenvoorziening | Regulated by the Inspectie Volksgezondheid Aruba (IVA) under the Landsverordening op de Geneesmiddelenvoorziening. Aruba is an autonomous country - Dutch and EU medicines law do NOT apply. Commercial importers and pharmacies must submit a sample to IVA for evaluation and classification before a product is placed on the market, and a GMP certificate is required where the product originates outside Europe, the USA or Canada. Personal importation is expressly quantified under IVA policy: prescription medicines up to 3 months' supply, supplements up to 3 months, non-prescription medicines up to 6 months, requiring customs documentation, ID, a photo of the package, and for prescription products a signed prescription from an authorised foreign doctor dated no more than 7 days before return. Critically for peptides: INJECTABLE AND INFUSION MEDICINES REQUIRE AN AUTHORISATION LETTER FROM AN ARUBA-BASED DOCTOR plus patient medical history. Courier companies must supply documentation to IVA. | Official |
| Ireland | Prescription | No | Prescription Only | Prescription-controlled by category, not by listing: S.I. 540/2003 reg. 5(1)(b) makes ANY medicinal product intended for parenteral administration prescription-only, and reg. 5(1)(c) separately catches any new chemical molecule. Reg. 19(1) prohibits supplying any medicinal product by mail order outright. Contravention is an offence under s.32(4) Irish Medicines Board Act 1995, carrying up to 10 years on indictment. Regulator: HPRA. | Official |
| New Zealand | Prescription | Yes | Unapproved (Rx Required) | Not Medsafe approved. Classified as prescription medicine under Medicines Act 1981. Personal import up to 3-month supply requires valid NZ prescription. | Official |
| Singapore | Prescription | No | Unregistered Therapeutic Product | Unregistered therapeutic product. Supplying one is an offence under Health Products Act 2007 s.15(1)-(2): fine up to SGD 50,000 and/or 2 years' imprisonment. Importing without an importer's licence is an offence under s.13(1), same penalty — BUT reg 52 of the Health Products (Therapeutic Products) Regulations 2016 exempts personal import for the individual or a family member, capped at a total dosage of 3 months. That exemption covers only the licence requirement: onward supply of anything personally imported, including giving it to another person, remains an offence under s.15. Supplying an adulterated or counterfeit product carries up to SGD 100,000 and/or 3 years (s.16(2)(b)). | Official |
| Argentina | Banned | No | Unauthorized Medicine | Not approved by ANMAT as an especialidad medicinal. ANMAT expanded its alert on 4 September 2026 naming Retatrutide, BPC-157, TB-500, injectable GHK, Ipamorelin/CJC-1295, MOTS-C, Epitalon, Semax/Selank, Melanotan II, AOD-9604 and DSIP, sold via online platforms and messaging apps. Unusually for the region, POSSESSION is caught: Ley 16.463 art. 19(a) prohibits "la elaboracion, TENENCIA, fraccionamiento, circulacion, distribucion y entrega al publico de productos impuros o ilegitimos". The RAEM personal-import route (Disposicion 4616/19) requires an especialidad medicinal approved elsewhere with a package insert, so it is not available for research chemicals. | Official |
| Australia | Banned | Yes | Schedule 4 Appendix D | Schedule 4 (Prescription Only) AND Appendix D clause 5 of the Poisons Standard (June 2026, F2026L00633) — Appendix D cl.5 lists poisons that "must not be possessed by a person without authority". Possession without a valid Australian prescription is therefore unlawful, not merely supply. Enforcement is via state and territory poisons legislation, which adopts the Standard. Falls outside the Personal Importation Scheme, which requires a valid Australian prescription at the time of import for prescription-only substances. | Official |
| Bahrain | Banned | No | Unauthorized | Not NHRA registered. Unauthorized. Do not import. | Official |
| Belize | Banned | No | Unregistered No Product Licence | Not registered. Food and Drugs Act, Cap. 291, and the Food and Drugs (Registration, Licensing and Inspection) Regulations, S.I. 54 of 2017 (in force 29 July 2017; amended by S.I. 41 of 2021 and S.I. 136 of 2025). Regulation 3(1): a person shall not commercialise any drug unless they have obtained registration of, and received a product licence for, that drug from the competent authority - the Director of Health Services. Penalty under reg. 3(3): a fine up to BZD 10,000 on summary conviction. Registration requires a GMP certificate, a WHO-model Certificate of Pharmaceutical Product or Certificate of Free Sale, a certificate of analysis and a full technical dossier. The only non-registered import route is the orphan-drug pathway in reg. 5, which requires import authorisation and applies to drugs for rare diseases - a research peptide would not qualify. No personal or traveller allowance was located. | Official |
| Bolivia | Banned | No | Sin Registro Sanitario | No registro sanitario. Ley 1737 del Medicamento (17 December 1996) art. 5 subjects the elaboration, manufacture, distribution, import, export, sale and commercialisation of medicines to mandatory sanitary registration, restricts importation to persons with registered legal representation, and requires a certificate of registration for customs clearance. Art. 59 lists production, importation and commercialisation of medicines without registro sanitario as punishable infractions, and art. 61 provides for administrative sanctions plus criminal and civil liability under the relevant codes. The law contains no personal-use exception; any such exception would sit in the reglamento (D.S. 25235), which was not retrievable. AGEMED has issued NO alert naming research peptides - all 207 of its 2026 alerts were checked. Its 2026 peptide-adjacent activity concerns contraband tirzepatide and cosmetic products only. Tirzepatide IS legally registered in Bolivia, marketed by IMFAR S.R.L. | Official |
| Botswana | Banned | No | Unregistered Regulated Product | Regulated by BoMRA. A new Medicines and Related Substances Act 2025 (No. 29 of 2025) was assented on 24 December 2025 but COMMENCES ON NOTICE, and no commencement order was located - until it commences the 2013 Act continues to operate, so verify which regime applies before relying on this. Under the 2025 Act, s.35(1) prohibits possessing or controlling any regulated product for the purposes of importing, manufacturing, distributing, selling, advertising, STORING or dispensing unless registered - a possession-for-purpose offence, broader than a pure sale prohibition. Penalty under s.35(11): a fine up to P10,000,000 or imprisonment up to 10 YEARS, or both. Personal use is addressed: s.35(5)(a) allows exemption for a product prescribed outside Botswana for a patient's personal use, and s.64 permits a traveller to bring in quantities required for their own or accompanying family members' treatment, excluding prohibited products, narcotics, psychotropics and precursors. | Official |
| Brazil | Banned | No | Unregistered | Not registered with ANVISA in any category. ANVISA stated on 2 July 2026 that injectable peptides including GHK-Cu, BPC-157, TB-500, CJC-1295 and Ipamorelina are not regularised in any category - food, medicine, cosmetic or supplement - and are therefore "ILEGAIS para qualquer uso em saude, inclusive estetico" (illegal for any health use, including aesthetic). No food supplement in Brazil may be injectable (IN 28/2018), and injectable cosmetics do not exist as a category. Compounding does not lawfully extend to these substances: any substance compounded must first have passed efficacy and safety analysis, and compounding must be individualised against a prescription. Compounded semaglutide is separately prohibited. | Official |
| Cameroon | Banned | No | Sans Amm | No AMM. Loi n. 90/035 du 10 aout 1990 art. 64 prohibits supplying any pharmaceutical speciality, free or for payment, without the prior visa of the public health authority; Decret n. 98-405/PM du 22 octobre 1998 art. 3 subjects market placement to an AMM issued after homologation. Regulator is the DPML, a directorate of the Ministry of Public Health rather than an independent agency. The only route for non-homologated medicines is art. 34 of the 1998 decree, which permits import and use for therapeutic trial purposes by approved experts - there is no general named-patient or personal-import provision on the face of the instruments. Penalty exposure turns sharply on classification: breach of the visa requirement attracts only a fine (art. 66 applying art. 20, 50,000-500,000 FCFA), but any breach of the rules on importation, sale or use of substances veneneuses attracts art. 68 - a fine of 1,000,000-5,000,000 FCFA AND imprisonment of 1 to 10 years. Art. 69 extends the same penalties to possession without legitimate reason. | Official |
| Canada | Banned | No | Unauthorized Drug | Unauthorized drug. Health Canada issued a public advisory on 9 April 2026 naming BPC-157, CJC-1295, Ipamorelin, TB-500, GHK-Cu, MOTS-C, KPV, Epitalon, Melanotan I/II and Retatrutide, stating that unauthorized drug products are illegal in Canada and that products labelled "For Research Use Only - Not for Human Consumption" are NOT exempt from regulatory requirements. Selling without a DIN is prohibited (Food and Drug Regulations C.01.014). Not a controlled substance: nothing peptide-related appears in the CDSA schedules, which cover anabolic steroids but no peptides or GH secretagogues. Personal possession is not itself an offence; sale, advertising and commercial import are. Compounding is being enforced against: a Type I recall (RA-82047) covered BPC-157 and GHK-Cu supplied as unauthorized APIs to compounding pharmacies in May 2026. | Official |
| Chile | Banned | No | Sin Registro Sanitario | No registro sanitario. Decreto Supremo 3/2010 art. 20 requires prior sanitary registration for any pharmaceutical product to be distributed or used "a cualquier titulo" in Chile. The personal-import exception in art. 21(b) is narrower than commonly claimed: art. 21 A restricts the pre-approved list to medicines for which "conste la autorizacion de comercializacion por parte del pais del que se importa", caps the authorised amount at six months of treatment, and art. 22 requires proof of the authorisation granted by the sanitary authority of the country of origin plus a prescription. Because these compounds hold no marketing authorisation in any country of origin, the Chilean personal-import route is legally unavailable to them. | Official |
| China | Banned | No | Unapproved Drug | NMPA does not approve. No consumer research market. China is major manufacturer/exporter but domestic use unauthorized. 2025 export restrictions on certain peptides. | Official |
| Colombia | Banned | No | Producto Fraudulento | Classified as a "producto farmaceutico fraudulento" by operation of Decreto 677 de 1995 art. 2(g) - any pharmaceutical product not covered by a Registro Sanitario. INVIMA issued Alerta 184-2026 (24 June 2026) and Alerta 252-2026 (19 August 2026) naming BPC-157, TB-500, Ipamorelin, CJC-1295, Retatrutida, DSIP, Selank, Semax, PT-141, GHK-Cu, Tesamorelin, MOTS-C, NAD+, IGF-1, Cagrilintide, AOD-9604 and Kisspeptin, stating their commercialisation in Colombia is illegal. INVIMA addresses the framing directly: these are sold as "research chemicals", supplements or magistral preparations without having completed the regulatory processes required to be considered authorised medicines. | Official |
| Costa Rica | Banned | No | Sin Registro Sanitario | No registro sanitario. The Ministerio de Salud states that Ley General de Salud 5395 prohibits the importation, manufacture, commercialisation and use of products without sanitary registration, and that those involved face closure of their establishment and both administrative AND criminal sanctions. Advertencia Sanitaria 11-2026 (22 July 2026) names retatrutide, tesamorelin, BPC-157, TB-500 and GHK-Cu as promoted and sold through unauthorised channels without sanitary authorisation; MK-677 was named separately in Advertencia 14 (22 August 2025). Magistral preparation is not a route: the Ministry states such preparations may only be made by authorised pharmacies for a specific patient against an individual prescription, and may not be manufactured to hold inventory, sold at scale, or promoted publicly as substitutes for industrial medicines. Registered and prescription-only in Costa Rica: Ozempic (semaglutide), Saxenda (liraglutide) and Mounjaro KwikPen (tirzepatide). | Official |
| Cuba | Banned | No | State Controlled | State pharmaceutical monopoly via CECMED/BioCubaFarma. No private purchase/import permitted. | Unofficial |
| Guyana | Banned | No | New Drug Licence Required | Controlled through a "new drug" licence rather than a registry. Food and Drugs Act, Chapter 34:03 (Act 12 of 1971), Regulation 78(1): no person shall import, sell or advertise for sale a new drug unless they hold a licence in force issued by the Minister and have paid the licence fee. The definition of "new drug" captures every compound here - it includes any drug containing a substance not imported into Guyana for use as a drug before 1 January 1977, so all of these post-1977 compounds require a Ministerial licence to import or sell. At the border, s.22 allows an inspector to examine customs entries and take samples, and goods are not released until the analyst reports; where sale would contravene the Act the article is not admitted into Guyana. No personal-use exemption appears in the Act or Regulations. Penalties under s.33: on summary conviction GYD 6,500-32,500 and 1-3 months imprisonment for a first offence, rising to GYD 65,000-325,000 and 1-3 years on indictment, with forfeiture of the articles involved. | Official |
| Indonesia | Banned | No | Unregistered Pharmaceutical | Not BPOM registered. Law No. 17 of 2023 on Health (UU 17/2023) Pasal 138(2) prohibits procuring, producing, STORING, promoting and/or distributing pharmaceutical preparations that do not meet safety, efficacy and quality standards. Pasal 435 punishes producing or distributing such preparations with up to 12 YEARS' imprisonment or a fine up to IDR 5,000,000,000. Pasal 436(2) punishes unauthorised pharmacy practice involving prescription-strength drugs (obat keras) with up to 5 years or IDR 500 million. Note the asymmetry: Pasal 138(2) prohibits storing, but Pasal 435 criminalises producing or distributing — whether simple possession is separately criminalised was not established. | Official |
| Kuwait | Banned | No | Unauthorized | Not registered. Unauthorized. Do not import. | Official |
| Oman | Banned | No | Unauthorized | Not registered. Unauthorized import. Do not import. | Official |
| Paraguay | Banned | No | Sin Registro Sanitario | No registro sanitario. Ley 1119/97 art. 6.1 prohibits commercialising or supplying free of charge any unregistered pharmaceutical speciality; art. 4.4 expressly prohibits sale of unauthorised or illegally introduced products. DINAVISA has issued three 2026 alerts naming these compounds: Alerta 05/2026 (3 March, Categoria A - Riesgo Grave) covering TB-500, BPC-157, CJC-1295 DAC, GHK-Cu, kisspeptin, PEG-MGF, SEMAX, tesamorelin and selank; Alerta 08/2026 (18 May) covering CJC-1295 + ipamorelin, TB-500, PT-141 and retatrutide; and Alerta 09/2026 (20 May) covering tirzepatide. NOTE A REGIONAL EXCEPTION: unlike its neighbours, Paraguay's art. 6.2 exempts medicines for personal use carried into the country by the user or an authorised third party, in strictly necessary and reasonable quantities, from prior authorisation - with no statutory condition of foreign approval and no prescription requirement. That exemption is worded for goods carried in person rather than posted, and DINAVISA enforces against unregistered peptide imports regardless. | Official |
| Peru | Banned | No | Sin Registro Sanitario | No registro sanitario from DIGEMID, which is an indispensable requirement for commercialisation. DIGEMID issued Alerta 094-2026 on 17 August 2026 over illegal web commercialisation of Retatrutide 10 mg and 50 mg vials, noting the seller also lacked authorisation to operate as a pharmaceutical establishment for import, storage or sale. Unregistered products may be imported only under the provisional authorisations in DS 016-2011-SA art. 20, of which the relevant limb is individual prevention and treatment, requiring medical justification from a prescribing health professional plus a report on the product characteristics. | Official |
| Qatar | Banned | No | Expressly Prohibited | Expressly prohibited. Ministry of Public Health Circular PDC/2026/31 (25 August 2026) bans the import, manufacture, preparation, sale, prescription, dispensing, injection, use, advertising and promotion of peptide products not licensed by the Pharmacy and Drug Control Department, citing BPC-157, retatrutide and MOTS-c by name. The prohibition expressly extends to preparations labelled "for research purposes" or "not for human use" where they are intended, used or promoted for human consumption, and to promotion via social media. Note: peptides are NOT scheduled narcotics in Qatar — Law 9/1987 and its severe trafficking penalties do not apply to them. | Official |
| Saudi Arabia | Banned | No | Unregistered Pharmaceutical | Not SFDA registered. Law of Pharmaceutical and Herbal Establishments and Preparations (Royal Decree M/108, 15 April 2020) art. 34(4) makes it a violation to bring or attempt to bring into the Kingdom an unregistered pharmaceutical preparation; art. 34(2) covers possession with intent to trade. Art. 35(2) sets the penalty at imprisonment up to 10 YEARS or a fine up to SAR 10 million, or both. Note: none of these peptides appears in Schedules I-III of the narcotics law (RD M/39), so the capital and life sentences under that statute do not apply — the applicable regime is the medicines law above. | Official |
| Senegal | Banned | No | Sans Amm | No marketing authorisation. Loi n. 2023-06 du 13 juin 2023 art. 133: no medicine may be supplied in Senegal, free of charge or for payment, without first obtaining an AMM granted by order of the Minister of Health. Import is closed to the general public - art. 136 restricts it to authorised manufacturing and wholesale establishments, and art. 137 requires an ARP authorisation for every import. Personal importation is available only exceptionally: art. 141 permits import authorisations to be granted to private individuals on conditions set by decree, and the implementing decree was not located. Penalties are severe: art. 209 punishes supplying, storing, distributing or selling medicines OUTSIDE health establishments and the official circuit with 5 to 10 YEARS imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 to 10,000,000 FCFA. Illegal practice of pharmacy (art. 203) carries the same custodial range. | Official |
| South Africa | Banned | No | Unscheduled Unregistered | Not named in any Schedule of the Consolidated Schedules (06 July 2026) - verified by direct text search. Being unscheduled does not make it lawful: s.14(1) of the Medicines and Related Substances Act 101 of 1965 prohibits selling a registrable medicine that is not registered, and SAHPRA named this substance among "illegally marketed peptides" in its Peptide Products public information page of 26 May 2026. Offences under s.29 carry, per s.30(1), a fine or imprisonment up to 10 YEARS (the previous R40,000 fine cap was deleted in 1997, so the fine is at large). COMPOUNDING IS NOT AVAILABLE: the s.14(4) exemption requires that the active component appear in another medicine registered under the Act, which is not the case here; regulation 3(3)(c) separately bars compounding for growth promotion or performance enhancement. Lawful access would require a named-patient section 21 authorisation, applied for by the prescribing practitioner. Framework: s.14(1) of the Medicines and Related Substances Act 101 of 1965 prohibits selling a registrable medicine that is not registered; offences under s.29 carry, per s.30(1), a fine or imprisonment up to 10 years. Compounding is unavailable unless the active component appears in another medicine registered under the Act (s.14(4) proviso), and regulation 3(3)(c) separately bars compounding for growth promotion or performance enhancement. | Official |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Banned | No | New Drug Approval Required | Food and Drugs Act, Chap. 30:01 and the Food and Drugs Regulations operate a genuine new-drug approval regime. Second Schedule, Division 3, para. 2(1): no person shall import, sell or advertise for sale a new drug unless a new drug submission has been filed, the fee paid, and the Minister has issued a notice of approval that has not been withdrawn. "New drug" captures any substance not imported into Trinidad and Tobago as a drug before the appointed day, which takes in modern peptides. A narrow research carve-out exists at Division 3, para. 10 - import for qualified investigators solely to obtain clinical and scientific data, labelled "To Be Used By Qualified Investigators Only" and requiring written ministerial authority naming them. Section 32(2) additionally bars import unless the article wholly conforms to the law of the country of manufacture and is accompanied by a certificate that its sale there would not violate that law - which defeats import of anything sold abroad as a research chemical not for human consumption. Third Schedule drugs are prescription-only, though a resident of a foreign country visiting Trinidad and Tobago is exempt from the import restriction. Penalties (s.33): summary first offence TTD 1,500 and 3 months; on indictment TTD 15,000 and 3 years. | Official |
| Uruguay | Banned | No | No Registrado | Not registered with the MSP. Decreto 521/984 art. 119 requires every medicine to be registered before use or commercialisation, and art. 82 prohibits the export, import and commercialisation of unregistered human medicines. Personal importation confers no right: art. 73 provides that the introduction or removal of human medicines by private individuals without complying with the requirements triggers MSP intervention over the final destination of the products. Only two routes exist for an unregistered medicine and neither is open to research peptides - art. 71 (samples of new medicines solely for clinical experimentation under MSP control or for the registration process) and art. 143 (urgency or emergency, requiring a competent professional's request and DI.QUI.ME. authorisation, with the professional and supplier jointly and severally liable). Penalties under Decreto-Ley 15.443 art. 19: closure of the establishment, seizure of goods and fines, updated annually for cost of living. | Official |
| Venezuela | Banned | No | No Registrado | Not registered. Ley de Medicamentos (Gaceta Oficial 37.006, 3 August 2000) art. 18 requires registration before elaboration, distribution, POSSESSION (tenencia), sale or dispensing - note that the article reaches mere possession, which is unusual. Art. 58 prohibits the sale of medicines not registered in the country, and art. 67 flatly prohibits importing medicines that do not meet the requirements of the legislation, the only carve-out being for the National Executive during a declared health emergency. The law contains no personal-use or traveller exception. Penalties: art. 75(1) treats manufacture, import, export and distribution of medicines without authorisation as an administrative offence fined 185-370 tax units; criminal liability arises under art. 77 (6 months to 2 years for dispensing non-compliant medicines endangering health) and art. 78 (6 months to 3 years for altering composition, imitating medicines, or stocking, advertising, offering or selling a product known to be altered). | Official |
| Vietnam | Banned | No | Unregistered Unauthorised | Not authorised for circulation. Pharmacy Law 105/2016/QH13 art. 6(5)(e) strictly prohibits trading in drugs or drug substances not yet permitted for circulation; art. 59(1) limits the market to drugs holding a marketing authorisation or imported under art. 60. Unregistered drugs may be import-licensed only in enumerated cases under art. 60(2), of which limb (i) covers non-commercial purposes. Criminal exposure runs through Penal Code art. 194 (counterfeit medicines): 2-7 years base, rising to 12-20 years or life in aggravated cases. IMPORTANT: the death penalty was REMOVED from art. 194 with effect from 1 July 2025 by Law 86/2025/QH15 - older sources stating otherwise are out of date. Note art. 194 targets counterfeit rather than merely unregistered product, though Vietnam's definition of counterfeit captures goods with absent or deficient active ingredient. Semaglutide and tirzepatide are prescription-only by residual rule: anything not on the OTC list in Circular 07/2017/TT-BYT is automatically a prescription drug. | Official |
| Zambia | Banned | No | Unregistered Medicine | Not registered with ZAMRA. Medicines and Allied Substances Act 2013 (Act No. 3 of 2013) s.39(1) prohibits placing a medicine on the market without a marketing authorisation. Dealing in unregistered medicines is a distinct and more serious offence under s.58(2)(a): a fine up to 4,000,000 penalty units or imprisonment up to 7 YEARS, or both, plus forfeiture and licence cancellation. Importing without a permit is a further offence under s.35 (up to 3 years). Personal importation is permitted narrowly: s.39(4)(b) exempts a person importing for their own or a relative's use ONLY where the quantity is based on a prescription. A traveller carve-out exists at s.35(2) but the quantity is set by statutory instrument which was not located. | Official |
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Entries marked Official cite a government regulator, legislation or an official gazette. Entries marked Secondary rest on consultancy, law firm, news or academic reporting rather than the regulator itself. Entries marked Unofficial rest on sources that are not authoritative — which may include commercial sellers, medicine-import services or independent websites. Some entries currently carry no source at all.
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Data is researcher-verified but not legal advice. Regulations change frequently. Always verify with local authorities before purchasing, importing, or traveling with peptides. Last verified: 2026-02-28.