Medicines
(Advertising) (Jersey) Order 2026
THE MINISTER
FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES, after
consultation with the Medicines Advisory Council, makes this Order under Articles 90 and 110 of the Medicines (Jersey) Law 1995 –
Commencement [see endnotes]
Part 1
General
1 Interpretation
In this Order –
“advertisement”, in relation to a medicinal
product, has the meaning given in Article 2(1) and (2);
“electronic communication” has the meaning given
in Article 1(1) of the Electronic
Communications (Jersey) Law 2000;
“homoeopathic medicinal product” has the meaning
given in Article 3(3);
“publish” has the meaning given in Article 2(3).
2 Meaning of
advertisement and publish
(1) “Advertisement”,
in relation to a medicinal product, has the meaning given in Article 87 of
the Medicines
(Jersey) Law 1995.
(2) But
“advertisement” does not include –
(a) a medicinal product’s
package or the leaflet contained in the package;
(b) reference material and
announcements of a factual and informative nature that do not make a product
claim, including –
(i) material relating to changes to a medicinal
product’s package or package leaflet;
(ii) adverse reaction
warnings;
(iii) a trade catalogue; and
(iv) a price list; and
(c) correspondence answering
a specific question about a medicinal product, and accompanying material of a
non-promotional nature.
(3) “Publish”,
in relation to an advertisement, means –
(a) the issue or dissemination
of the advertisement in any way; or
(b) causing or procuring
another person to disseminate or issue the advertisement in any way.
3 Restrictions on
advertisements – general
(1) A
person must not publish an advertisement for a medicinal product unless –
(a) a product licence is in
force in respect of that medicinal product; or
(b) it is a homoeopathic
medicinal product.
(2) A
person must not publish an advertisement for a medicinal product unless that
advertisement contains particulars that –
(a) comply with the
particulars listed in the summary of the product characteristics; and
(b) encourage the rational
use of that product by presenting it objectively and without exaggerating its
properties.
(3) In
paragraph (1), “homoeopathic medicinal product” means a medicinal product
prepared from homoeopathic stocks in accordance with a homoeopathic
manufacturing procedure –
(a) described by the European
Pharmacopoeia; or
(b) in the absence of a
description falling within sub-paragraph (a) –
(i) in relation to a certificate of
registration or marketing authorisation for a national homoeopathic product in
force in Great Britain only, described by the British Pharmacopoeia or a
pharmacopoeia used officially in a country that is included in a list published
by the licensing authority for this purpose; and
(ii) in relation to a
certificate of registration or marketing authorisation for a national homoeopathic
product in force in the whole United Kingdom or in Northern Ireland only,
described by the British Pharmacopoeia or a pharmacopoeia used officially in an
EEA State (where “EEA State” means a State that is a contracting party to the
Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992, as
adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17 August 1993).
(4) In
paragraph (2)(a), “summary of the product characteristics”, in relation to
a medicinal product, means –
(a) if the medicinal product
has a UK marketing authorisation or traditional herbal registration, the
summary of the product characteristics –
(i) as approved by the licensing authority in
granting the authorisation or registration; or
(ii) if the summary of the product
characteristics has been varied since that approval, the summary of the product
characteristics as varied;
(b) if the medicinal product
has an EU marketing authorisation, the summary of the product
characteristics –
(i) as approved by the European Commission in granting
the authorisation; or
(ii) if the summary of the
product characteristics has been varied since that approval, the summary of the
product characteristics as varied.
(5) In
this Article, the following terms have the respective meanings given to them in
the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 of the United Kingdom (S.I. 2012/1916) –
(a) certificate of
registration;
(b) EU marketing
authorisation;
(c) the licensing authority;
(d) marketing authorisation;
(e) national homoeopathic
product;
(f) traditional herbal
registration;
(g) UK marketing
authorisation.
Part 2
Advertising
to the public
4 Application of this
Part
This Part applies only to
advertisements wholly or mainly directed at members of the general public.
5 Prohibition of
advertisements likely to lead to use of prescription only medicines, etc.
(1) A
person must not publish an advertisement that is likely to lead to the use of a
prescription only medicine.
(2) But
paragraph (1) does not prohibit a person from publishing an advertisement that
is likely to lead to the use of a prescription only medicine for the purpose of
the prevention of neural tube defects.
(3) A
person must not publish an advertisement that is likely to lead to the use of a
medicinal product, substance or article for the purpose of inducing an abortion
in a woman.
6 Prohibition of
advertisements for certain medicinal products
A person must not publish
an advertisement for a medicinal product that –
(a) contains a substance that
is listed in Schedule I, II or IV to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
signed by the United Kingdom on 30 March 1961 as amended by the Protocol
Amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs signed by the United Kingdom
on 25 March 1972 (where the product is not a preparation listed in Schedule III
to that Convention); or
(b) contains a substance that
is listed in Schedule I to IV to the Convention on Psychotropic Substances
signed by the United Kingdom on 21 February 1971 (where the product is not a
preparation that may be exempted from measures of control in accordance with
paragraphs 2 and 3 of article 3 of that Convention).
7 Prohibition
of advertisements containing material relating to diagnosis
A person must not publish
an advertisement for a medicinal product that –
(a) states or implies that
medical consultation or surgical operation is not necessary;
(b) offers to provide a
diagnosis or suggest a treatment by post or by means of electronic
communication; or
(c) is likely to lead to
erroneous self-diagnosis by another person, as a result of a description or
detailed representation of a case history.
8 Prohibition
of advertisements containing material about effect of medicinal product
(1) A
person must not publish an advertisement for a medicinal product that states or
implies that the effect of taking the product –
(a) is guaranteed;
(b) is better than or
equivalent to the effect of another treatment or medicinal product; or
(c) is not accompanied by an
adverse reaction.
(2) A
person must not publish an advertisement for a medicinal product that states or
implies that –
(a) the health of a person
who is not suffering from any disease or injury could be enhanced by taking the
medicinal product; or
(b) the health of a person
could be affected by not taking the medicinal product.
9 Prohibition of
advertisements containing material about status of medicinal product
A person must not publish
an advertisement for a medicinal product that states or implies that –
(a) it is not a medicinal
product (for example that it is a foodstuff or cosmetic); or
(b) its safety or efficacy is
due to the fact that it is natural.
10 Prohibition of
advertisements referring to recommendations
A person must not publish
an advertisement for a medicinal product that states or implies that the
product is recommended by –
(a) a scientist;
(b) a health care
professional; or
(c) a person who, because of
their celebrity, could encourage another person to use the medicinal product.
11 Prohibition of
advertisements directed at children
A person must not publish
an advertisement for a medicinal product that contains material directed
principally at persons aged under 18.
12 Form
and content of advertisements
(1) A
person must not publish an advertisement for a medicinal product unless that
advertisement –
(a) is presented so that it is
clear that the message is an advertisement and so that the product is clearly
identified as a medicinal product; and
(b) includes –
(i) the name of the medicinal product;
(ii) if it contains only 1
active ingredient, the common name of the medicinal product;
(iii) the information necessary
for correct use of the medicinal product; and
(iv) an express and clear
invitation to read carefully the instructions on the leaflet contained within
the package or on the label.
(2) But
paragraph (1) does not apply to an advertisement for a medicinal product
that is on a promotional aid if the advertisement –
(a) consists solely of the
name of the product (or, in the case of a homoeopathic
medicinal product, the scientific name of the stock or stocks); and
(b) is intended solely as a
reminder.
(3) In
this Article –
(a) “common name”, in
relation to a medicinal product, means –
(i) the international non-proprietary name; or
(ii) if no international
non-proprietary name exists, the usual common name;
(b) “name”, in relation to a medicinal
product, means the name given to the product, which may be either an invented
name or a common or scientific name, together with a trade mark or the name of
the person responsible for marketing the product;
(c) “promotional aid” means a
non-monetary gift made for a promotional purpose by a commercially interested
party.
13 Exception for approved
vaccination campaigns
Articles 5(1), 6 and
8(2)(b) do not apply to an advertisement that is part of a vaccination campaign
that –
(a) has been approved by the
Minister; and
(b) relates to a medicinal
product that is a vaccine or serum.
14 Exception for approved
campaigns in response to spread of pathogenic agents etc
Articles 5(1), 6, 8(2)(b)
and 12(1)(b)(iv) do not apply to an advertisement that is part of a campaign
that –
(a) has been approved by the
Minister; and
(b) relates to a medicinal
product for use in response to the suspected or confirmed spread of –
(i) a pathogenic agent;
(ii) a toxin;
(iii) a chemical agent; or
(iv) nuclear radiation.
Part 3
Offences,
repeal and closing provision
15 Offences
(1) A
person who contravenes a provision of this Order commits an offence.
(2) A
person who commits an offence is liable to imprisonment for a term of 2 years
and to a fine of level 3 on the standard scale.
16 [1]
17 Citation and commencement
This Order may be cited as the Medicines (Advertising) (Jersey)
Order 2026 and comes into force 7 days after it is made.