Circular No 47 provides guidelines on the import and export of medicine and related packages.

Specifically, imported medicine whose expiry date is more than 24 months will be required to have a minimum shelf life of 1.5 years. The corresponding figure for the medicine with expiry date equal to or below 24 months will be 1 year since the date of import.

For unregistered vaccines and medical biological products, they must have a remaining expiry time equal to two thirds of its total expiry date. Those with registered numbers for circulation can have the figure decreased to a half of the total.

The Health Ministry also stipulates that imported medicine materials must have a remaining expiry time of more than 3 years. Regarding donated medicine, the remaining shelf life must stand at a minimum of 12 months since the date of import.