Non-pharmacy retailers selling general sale medicines

If you are not a pharmacy, you can only sell medicines that have been approved by the HPRA for General Sale for the Irish market. These are called 'General Sale Medicines'

You cannot sell medicines from other countries.

Retailers that are not pharmacies include health shops and supermarkets. Other examples are grocery shops, petrol service stations, internet shops and discount stores.

How do I know if a medicine is a 'General Sale Medicine'

You can find a list of General Sales Medicines on our dedicated page page. 

You can only sell a medicine if:

1. It is on the list above and,
2. The corresponding licence number (3rd column in list) is present on the medicine's packaging.

This confirms it is 1) a general sale medicine and 2) it is authorised for the Irish market.

What do I need to know when selling medicines that contain paracetamol?

There are additional considerations when selling general sale medicines containing paracetamol.

You can only sell one pack of a medicine with paracetamol in it to a customer.

You can learn more by reading about retailers’ legal obligations when selling paracetamol.