Prescription medication
Good day....
We are US Citizens and my spouse takes Clonazepam as prescribed by neurologist.
We are traveling through Asia for 2 months and our first leg of the trip brings us to Hong Kong as we will depart from there for a 12 night cruise. We intend to fly to Hong Kong and stay 4 nights.
We have a letter from the prescribing physician and will travel with the pills in the prescription bottle.
I am seeking clarification for Hong Kong.
I know for Singapore we need to declare it prior and carry the authorization from Singapore with us.
If 90 tablets are being traveled with...since we are traveling for 60 days....does this fall under the parameters of personal use by prescription? Can someone perhaps provide whom I should contact in HK government offices for clarification? I have searched the web but did not find anything definitive.
Thank you for your responses.
That's a question best answered by those applying those rules: https://www.customs.gov.hk/en/contact-us/index.html
Thank you kindly for your response.
I have followed up with an email to them and appreciate the link you provided. I had try to research this prior to my post but wasn't very successful.
Thanks again for your follow up.
Hi Topher! May I know how's the permit process for clonazepam for Hong Kong? Will be travelling there soon as well. Highly appreciated if you could share the process.
Hello sorry it had taken some time to reply
You must email them co_drie@dh.gov.hk
Include: name, birthdate, type of medication, strength of medication, how it is taken (by mouth) and how many times a day
Also state how many tablets intend
To enter the country with I added an additional 10 to cover 5 days of unintended travel delays.
All of that information needs to be included in an original letter from your doctor. IMPORTANT *** next to the DR name it must include the physician country ID #…apparently every Dr has a number that is specifically assigned to them and it must be included
Furthermore….take clear pictures of the medication bottle and upload the Dr letter in the first email in pdf format and submit
That should cover it
Any other questions feel free to reach out
Additionally
Also include your intended travel dates and anticipated length of stay
Hi Tapher,
Do you happen to know if it's necessary to do this process for all drugs you are bringing into the country, or is there a list of drugs you can bring in without having to do an import process?
Thanks!
There certainly exist lists of medication, with various distinctions such as whether it is prescription only, or over the counter, or banned, or other status maybe. You'll need to do some searching, either Google searches or dig around the customs website linked above.
If in doubt, contact the customs and excise department for information on the specific substance you want to import. They;ll be able to tell you whether it can be imported at all, and if so what paperwork if any you have to bring with it.
If you go to the website of HK Customs there is now a chatbot which answers this question. Key elements are:
"For medications confirmed by the DH that do not contain controlled substances, if they are imported/exported in the accompanied personal baggage of the person for personal use, a reasonable quantity may be exempted from licensing requirement."
"While entering/leaving Hong Kong, passengers who are carrying any controlled medications should bring along the approval in writing issued by the Chief Pharmacist of DH and proceed to the Red Channel to make declarations to Customs officers. For facilitation, passengers may provide document, such as valid prescription or certificate issued by a doctor for customs clearance when required."
So basically, the issue is whether the drugs are on the list of "controlled substances/medicines" or are just "normal" prescription medicines. But this is where it gets complicated...
“controlled medicines” means any substance which is specified in Part 1 of Schedule 10, i.e. Poisons
List, to the Pharmacy and Poisons Regulations (Cap.138A), any substance to which the Antibiotics
Ordinance (Cap.137) applies, or any substance specified in Part I of the First Schedule to the
Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Cap.134).
You can search for each drug in the HK Drug database:
https://www.drugoffice.gov.hk/eps/do/en/pharmaceutical_trade/search_drug_database.html
From this database, Clonazepam, for example, is "Part 1, Schedule 1 & Schedule 3 Poison & Part I Dangerous Drug" which means that it is a "controlled medicine" and therefore that you need to go through the process of getting permission from the Department of Health in order to bring any to HK, even in small quantities.
Note also that ALL antibiotics fall into the same category, which rule must, I'm sure, be breached hundreds of times a day since many people travel with a short course of antibiotics in case of sickness on the trip. I have never heard of anyone getting permission to bring a small packet of antibiotics into HK, nor of anyone ever being prosecuted for it.
I see that even ibuprofen is in the "Poisons List" so, as I read it, you need permission in advance from the HK Department of Health even to bring in a few ibuprofen tablets for your own use.
I'm struggling to believe that I have interpreted the laws correctly, so I have emailed the Department of Health for clarification. I will report back.
I would say it
Is best to email and inquire that way you have a record of your correspondence
Reporting back... sadly the Department of Health referred me to the Customs who referred me to the Department of Health.
So basically I can't find anyone in the HKSAR government who will tell me what medications passengers may take in and out of HK in their accompanied baggage either without any paperwork, or with a doctor's prescription.
Sorry about that.
Edited: 11:20 pm, December 19, 2024
