Chief Pharmaceutical Inspectorate

As experience shows, the trade in counterfeited medicinal products and unapproved medicines is usually conducted via the Internet (e.g. online stores, auction services, discussion forums, e-mail advertising messaging). Illegal online stores offering pharmaceuticals never provide contact details on their web pages – they avoid communication with the customer. There is no information on the principal place of business of the seller or any contact details. Usually, it is not possible to buy products with the cash-on-delivery option.

In Poland, the trade in counterfeited medicinal products or unapproved medicines is also carried on in retail outlets (e.g. sex shops, shops with functional food for athletes, the so-called bodybuilding shops), service outlets (e.g. gyms, fitness clubs, massage parlours, or oriental medicine clinics), in bazaars and markets.
Selling medicinal products at places other than those authorised in the Pharmaceutical Law Act is illegal. Offering harmful, falsified pharmaceutical products, substances, or foodstuffs for sale is a crime liable to prosecution. Selling such formulations is punishable by up to 8 years imprisonment. Sanctions apply to both aware and unaware sellers. The penal law is strict in this matter.