Project approved by the Chamber establishes sanitary criteria and requires separate space and presence of a pharmacist
Proposed by the Senate, the bill that establishes criteria for the operation of pharmacies within supermarkets was approved by the Chamber of Deputies on Monday (2.Mar.2026) and now goes to presidential approval.
The , from the senator (União Brasil-PB), authorizes the installation of a pharmacy or drugstore in the supermarket sales area, as long as it is in a delimited, segregated and exclusive physical environment for pharmaceutical activity. Medicines will not be directly on the shelves.
In an interview with Senate AgencyEfraim Filho highlighted the importance of the initiative.
“Cheaper medicines with easier safe access, this has always been the focus of our project. I’m happy that it went through the Chamber quickly. Now we have to wait for the president’s sanction”he stated.
Criteria
The project prohibits the supply of medicines in open, communicable areas or areas without complete functional separation, such as counters, stands or shelves outside the pharmacy or drugstore space.
The activities will be subject, like conventional pharmacies, to the rules of legislation on the exercise and supervision of pharmaceutical activities and the health surveillance of medicines, drugs, pharmaceutical inputs and related products.
In addition to an exclusive and separate physical environment, the pharmacy must have a structure consistent with legal and sanitary requirements, including storage, traceability, dispensing and pharmaceutical assistance. Requirements are also:
- presence of a pharmacist throughout opening hours;
- medicines subject to special control must be paid for before delivery or transported in sealed packaging to the cashier;
- prohibition of sales on counters or shelves outside the pharmacy area; and
- permission to use digital channels for delivery, as long as health standards are respected.
Approval in the Senate
In the Senate, the project in September 2025, under the rapporteur of the senator (PT-PE). Before approval, the proposal was debated in three public hearings throughout 2025.
The debates included the participation of representatives from the Ministry of Health, Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency), Brazilian Association of Pharmaceutical Commerce, National Federation of Pharmacists, Abras (Brazilian Association of Supermarkets), CFF (Federal Pharmacy Council), Abrafarma (Brazilian Association of Pharmacy and Drugstore Chains), Brazilian Association of Wholesalers, lawyers and economists, among other experts.
With information from .
