Peptides and the law
In short
Reading the whole page takes about 2 minutes.
- Most peptides on this site are not approved medicines. The law decides who may sell them.
- In the EU, a product sold to heal or change the body likely counts as a medicine.
- In every EU country, you may not sell or advertise a medicine with no licence.
- We explain the law. We do not tell anyone how to get round it.
Why read about the law?
| Your question | Read |
|---|---|
| What does Dutch law say? | The Netherlands |
| What does Belgian law say? | Belgium |
| What does German law say? | Germany |
| What does UK law say? | United Kingdom |
| What does US law say? | United States |
| What are the EU rules behind it? | European Union |
| Does a “research use only” label change anything? | Research use only |
| Is there a legal way to get a treatment? | Legal routes |
| What about sport and doping tests? | Sport and doping |
| Which rules are about to change? | What’s changing |
Every EU country follows the same basic rules. A product that is offered as a treatment, or that can change how the body works, counts as a medicine. A medicine needs a licence before anyone may sell it.1 Advertising a medicine without a licence is forbidden.1 Penalties and enforcement differ by country.
We describe the law from the laws themselves and from official guidance, with the date we checked. Laws change, so each page says when we last checked it. We follow coming changes on what’s changing.
This section does not tell anyone how to get round the law, where to find a product, or how to use one. For safety information, see safety.
Contacts in the Netherlands and the EU
Who do I contact?
All pages in this section
- Netherlands
What Dutch medicines law says about peptides without a licence: what counts as a medicine, selling, importing, advertising, enforcement, and where to report.
- European Union
The EU rules every member state follows: what counts as a medicine, the licence rule, the narrow exceptions, advertising, fake medicines, trials and the coming reform.
- Belgium
What Belgian law says about peptides without a licence: the 1964 medicines law, ordering by post, legal access routes, advertising, doping and reporting side effects.
- Research use only
Why a 'research use only' or 'not for human consumption' label does not decide whether a peptide is a medicine, in EU and US law, and what it means for you.
- Germany
What German law says about peptides without a licence: what counts as a medicine, selling, bringing them in, advertising, the anti-doping law and reporting.
- United Kingdom
What UK law says about peptides without a licence: what counts as a medicine, selling, importing for yourself, specials, controlled drugs, enforcement and Yellow Card.
- United States
What US federal law says about unapproved peptides: FDA approval, pharmacy compounding, the July 2026 advisory vote, 'research use' sellers, importing and reporting.
- Sport and doping
How anti-doping rules treat peptides: strict liability, Prohibited List sections S0, S2 and S4, the 2027 changes, medical exemptions and mislabelled products.
- What's changing
A dated tracker of rule changes that matter for peptides: FDA compounding decisions, the EU medicines reform, the 2027 anti-doping rules and enforcement in Europe.
Sources
Every claim on this page links to one of these sources. Scholarly sources link to their DOI; regulatory sources to the regulator's own page.
- (2001). Directive 2001/83/EC on the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use (consolidated text). Official Journal of the European Communities, L 311. Law eur-lex.europa.eu (opens an external site) — accessed 20 October 2026 ↩