Japan limits supply to one month without Import Confirmation

MHLW's standard personal-use guidance lets you bring up to one month of prescription medicine without Import Confirmation. Conditions and exclusions apply. Injections and self-injection equipment have their own provisions.

Check your exact presentation and apply for confirmation where needed. A longer holiday does not mean a larger supply qualifies. The Japan guide explains the official application process and how it differs from getting a local prescription.

Switzerland allows one month of personal supply

Swissmedic sets a one-month personal supply limit for non-narcotic medicines. The amount is worked out from the prescribed dose or the pack directions. The supply must be for your own use.

Several other countries are often described as allowing three months, so this catches people out. For a longer stay, set up local care in Switzerland. Do not pack a bigger supply based on another country's rules.

In the United States and Canada, residency decides the rule

Both countries treat a visitor's medicine differently from a resident's import. US residents should read the FDA's restrictions. The FDA's limited discretion does not give residents a general right to shop overseas.

Canadian residents should check Health Canada's rules on importing prescription medicine. What a foreign visitor may bring for ongoing treatment does not apply to a resident ordering online. The country guides cover each situation and link the official guidance.

Australia's Personal Importation Scheme has conditions

The TGA Personal Importation Scheme generally allows up to three months in one import, subject to its full conditions. For a prescription-only medicine, you must hold a suitable Australian prescription or written authority at the time of import.

Travellers have a separate exemption. Registration, personal import permission and public subsidy are three different decisions. A foreign prescription or a paid order settles none of them.

Singapore checks approval, quantity and labelling

HSA's traveller guidance allows up to three months where no approval is required and the medicine is not prohibited. You need a prescription or a doctor's letter, and the medicine must be in its original, properly labelled packaging. Travellers may not bring more than three months.

Check the ingredient and any device rules with HSA before you leave. Not every injectable medicine is controlled.

The United Arab Emirates uses an Emirates Drug Establishment permit

The Emirates Drug Establishment now runs the personal medicine import service, after some MOHAP services moved across. Check whether your product and situation need a permit, and prepare the medical documents it lists.

A procedure for controlled medicines does not mean every GLP-1 medicine is controlled. Follow the current service for your paperwork. An old travel blog is no guide.

Brazil requires pharmacies to retain the prescription

Anvisa brought in prescription retention for GLP-1 medicines from 23 June 2025. Older stories of buying without that step are now out of date. Ask a Brazilian pharmacist what prescription paperwork you need today.

This dispensing rule does not tell you whether a newer brand is authorised in Brazil, whether treatment is funded, or whether you may take the medicine home to your own country.

South Africa: check registration and the product itself

SAHPRA has warned about unregistered GLP-1 products and taken action against unlawful manufacture and distribution. It has also set out limits on compounded preparations.

These actions target particular products and supply chains. GLP-1 treatment as a whole is not banned. Before you buy, ask whether the medicine is a registered finished product. Name the prescriber and the dispensing pharmacy responsible for it.

Check the rules for your own trip

Recheck the official source before you pay and again before you leave. Write down the active ingredient, brand, formulation, strength, quantity, prescribed schedule and every country on your trip.

Note whether you will carry the medicine or have it posted, and whether you are a resident or a visitor. If you cannot confirm the local product status, write that down as unconfirmed. Do not treat it as a ban, and do not treat it as permission to import.

Sources

Your own medicine leaflet and prescriber come first. A source from another country does not mean the same rule applies in the UK.

  1. MHLW: medicines for personal use in Japan mhlw.go.jp
  2. PMDA: approved medicine information pmda.go.jp
  3. Swissmedic: entering Switzerland with medicines swissmedic.ch
  4. Swissmedic: personal imports and the internet swissmedic.ch
  5. FDA: personal importation fda.gov
  6. FDA: Foundayo approval fda.gov
  7. Health Canada: personal importation guidance GUI-0116 canada.ca
  8. Health Canada: Drug Product Database health-products.canada.ca
  9. TGA: Personal Importation Scheme tga.gov.au
  10. TGA: entering Australia with medicines tga.gov.au
  11. HSA: travelling to Singapore with medication hsa.gov.sg
  12. HSA: travelling with medical devices hsa.gov.sg
  13. EDE: personal medicine import permit ede.gov.ae
  14. MOHAP: transfer of services to EDE mohap.gov.ae
  15. Anvisa: GLP-1 prescription-retention rules gov.br
  16. Anvisa: implementation from June 2025 gov.br
  17. SAHPRA: 2026 enforcement action on unregistered GLP-1 products sahpra.org.za
  18. SAHPRA: semaglutide questions and answers sahpra.org.za

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