Importing medicines into Jamaica: permits, couriers and GLP-1 pens

Many Jamaican patients get their GLP-1 drugs from abroad: a relative sends a semaglutide pen from the United States, a tirzepatide vial arrives by courier, or a patient brings a supply in a suitcase. Physicians then see the results, good and bad. This article sets out what Jamaican law says about importing medicines, what Jamaica Customs asks for, and what the evidence says about products bought online. For the social-media side of the same problem, see our article on Ozempic sold on Instagram in Jamaica.

What the Food and Drugs Regulations say about importing drugs

The rules sit in the Food and Drugs Regulations, 1975, made under the Food and Drugs Act¹. Three regulations matter most:

• Regulation 40(1): "A person shall not sell, manufacture, import or distribute a drug unless" it "has been registered with the Ministry of Health" and the registration fee has been paid. Regulation 40(2): "The Minister may, in his discretion, exempt any person or any drug" from that requirement¹.
• Regulation 43(1): "A person shall not import a drug unless he has applied for and obtained permission to do so from the Minister", with a fee per permit covering up to ten products¹.
• Regulation 43(2): the Minister may require evidence that the manufacturing conditions of regulation 42 were met and may require tests in Jamaica "before such drug is released for sale"¹. Those conditions include aseptic filling in a separate enclosed area for drugs for parenteral use, and testing of each lot for "identity, potency and purity"¹.

In other words, an injectable peptide that is not registered in Jamaica can only come in lawfully through a ministerial exemption or permit. The registration backlog we reported in Jamaica's drug registration backlog is one reason newer drugs often arrive this way.

Personal imports and travellers

Jamaica Customs Agency answers the question "What is the procedure for importing personal medical device or medications?" in one line: "For items requiring import permit, one should be obtained from the Ministry of Health," and "The applicable duties and taxes will be charged"². The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade says prescription drugs need a special permit, with applications to the Ministry of Health's pharmaceutical regulatory division; its page lists a physician's letter, a copy of the prescription with drug name, strength and quantity, travel details and an address in Jamaica³. That page dates from 2016³.

Jamaica's Embassy in Brussels gives a fuller version for travellers. Visitors may bring regular prescriptions "provided that" they carry copies of the prescriptions and the drugs are "in the original containers and clearly labelled", with a physician's letter; for narcotics, "A special permit will be required from the Ministry of Health and Wellness"⁴. Neither page names GLP-1 drugs, and neither gives a processing time³⁴.

Fake products, fake fees

Customs has long seized counterfeits at the ports. Between January 2014 and April 2015 the Jamaica Customs Agency seized more than $250 million in counterfeit goods, and the Jamaica Information Service listed pharmaceuticals among them⁵. In 2016 Alwyn Nicely, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Customs Border Protection Division, said: "We must be absolutely sure that the things we are ingesting as medication are above board and legitimate"⁶. Reporting concerns raised by the Pharmaceutical Society of Jamaica, the Jamaica Information Service described counterfeit drugs as "a major issue in Jamaica", and the Society urged patients to fill prescriptions only at registered pharmacies⁹.

Online GLP-1 purchases show why. Researchers in Hungary and the United States reviewed 1,080 search results and found 134 links leading to 59 illegal online pharmacy websites selling semaglutide⁷. Every vial they managed to buy was a probable substandard or falsified product, with semaglutide content 28.56% to 38.69% above the label, purity of 7.7% to 14.37% instead of the claimed 99%, and endotoxin in all samples⁷. None of the Ozempic pens they ordered arrived; the sellers asked for "extra payments (range, US $650-$1200)" to clear customs⁸. WHO warned in 2024 of falsified Ozempic batches in Brazil, the United Kingdom and the United States, and of rising reports of falsified semaglutide in all regions since 2022¹⁰.

Heat and the cold chain

Peptides such as insulin, semaglutide and tirzepatide can lose potency with heat, and a pen that sat in a courier van or a car in Kingston is a reasonable worry. The evidence is mixed. In a randomised crossover trial in Thailand, insulin glargine pens kept at 37°C for 21 days gave the same mean glucose and the same remaining insulin by UHPLC as refrigerated pens¹¹. A study of low-cost cooling devices in hot climates found they cut storage temperature by 2.7 to 8.3°C¹². Neither study tested GLP-1 pens, so the manufacturer's storage instructions remain the reference.

Practical points for Jamaican physicians

• Ask where a GLP-1 product came from. An unregistered injectable that entered without a permit was imported outside regulations 40 and 43¹.
• Patients who travel with prescribed medicines should carry the prescription, a physician's letter and the original labelled packaging⁴.
• Record the brand, strength and batch number. A pen that does not work, or a vial with unusual labelling, may be falsified⁷¹⁰.
• Report suspected falsified products and adverse reactions to the Ministry's PharmWatch programme, as described in our article on PharmWatch and GLP-1 side effects.