Taking medicines across the border: certificates, supply and the 90-day ceiling
For medicines under the Opium Act you need a certificate — and the Dutch system only carries you for three months. What you arrange with the CAK, what Australia wants to see at the border, and why finding a local doctor simply belongs to your first weeks.
4 min read
Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
There's no Dutch medicine certificate that covers you "forever" when you emigrate. If your medicine falls under the Opium Act, the Dutch law covering among others strong painkillers, ADHD medication and sleeping pills, you arrange one of these two with the CAK:
- a Schengen certificate of at most 30 days (a maximum of three in a row);
- an English-language certificate of one year.
The CAK is the government body that stamps these certificates. After that you belong to your new country's system. The system is built for travelling, not for emigrating, and that determines your whole approach. Whoever uses daily medication therefore moves with an extra file.
Does your medicine fall under the Opium Act, and which certificate goes with it?
The Dutch government is firm: if you use a medicine that falls under the Opium Act, you need a medicine certificate at the border. The CAK gives as examples:
- strong painkillers and ADHD medication such as Ritalin (list I);
- sleeping pills and tranquillisers (list II).
The CAK's "Medicijnen mee op reis-hulp" (the CAK travel tool) tells you in a few minutes whether your medicine is among them. A medicine passport or medication overview is handy, but "not sufficient" as a replacement.
For Spain, Portugal and France that's the Schengen certificate, as long as you are away for less than 90 days. If you stay 90 days or longer, the CAK says you need the English-language declaration. The Schengen certificate works like this:
- You fill it in online.
- Your (family) doctor signs.
- You upload it and the CAK stamps it. Without that stamp it isn't valid.
Send it preferably one week before departure. You need one certificate per medicine. Mind the term: at most 30 days, so two certificates for 30 to 60 days and three for 60 to 90 days. Ninety days is the ceiling; whoever goes longer uses the English-language certificate.
For Australia and every other country outside the Schengen area there's that English-language medicine certificate. It is valid for one year from your doctor's signature, as long as medicine and dose don't change. You use one form for all your medicines. Mind these requirements:
- It requires wet signatures, made with a pen rather than digitally, and a stamp on every page.
- It goes to the CAK by post or at the counter in The Hague (no scan).
- It often still needs a second stamp from the court or the embassy.
Start on it four weeks before departure.
| What | Term |
|---|---|
| Schengen certificate valid | at most 30 days, 1 medicine per certificate |
| Stay of 30–60 days | 2 Schengen certificates per medicine |
| Stay of 60–90 days | 3 Schengen certificates per medicine |
| Sending the Schengen certificate | preferably 1 week before departure |
| English-language certificate valid | 1 year from the doctor's signature |
| Sending the English-language certificate | at least 4 weeks before departure |
| Supply to take into Australia | at most 3 months |
| First copy of your medical file | free |
What does Australia want to see at the border?
The Australian rules are strict but workable. They apply to everyone with medicines in their suitcase, Opium Act or not:
- at most three months' supply;
- in the original pharmacy packaging with label;
- with your prescription or a doctor's letter naming medicine and dose;
- and everything properly declared on entry.
Strong opioids and ADHD medication simply fall under that traveller's exemption. A short list of substances really isn't allowed in (including dipyrone/metamizole and abortion pills). Whoever declares rarely has a problem; whoever "forgets" does.
How do you hand your care over to your new country?
After those first months the Dutch paperwork stops, and that's not a flaw but the design: from then on you belong to your new country's system, with a local doctor and a local prescription. Finding a GP or prescriber is therefore not a job for "when it's needed". It's a step in your first weeks, well before the supply you brought runs low. Every corridor step-by-step plan has its own step for it.
What makes the handover smooth, you arrange on departure:
- Ask your GP for a copy of your medical file. You're entitled to it from the age of twelve. The first copy is free, you don't have to give a reason and the original stays with the doctor.
- Ask your pharmacy for a current medication overview, noted internationally with active substances, because brand names differ per country.
With those two documents the first conversation with your new doctor is a handover instead of an interrogation. Take everything in the original pharmacy packaging with label. Carry medication in your hand luggage: a lost suitcase is annoying, lost medication an emergency.
In Vertrekklaar this belongs to the phase Closing down the Netherlands of the journey: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See how the step-by-step plan works.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Rijksoverheid — medicines on a trip and the two certificates — rijksoverheid.nl
- CAK — medicines on a trip, the application route — hetcak.nl
- CAK — travelling within Europe, how many Schengen certificates you need — hetcak.nl
- CAK — how long a medicine certificate is valid — hetcak.nl
- CAK — the English-language medicine certificate, four weeks ahead — hetcak.nl
- TGA (Australia) — importing medicines as a traveller — tga.gov.au
- Office of Drug Control — the traveller's exemption, with the conditions — odc.gov.au
- Rijksoverheid — right to a copy of your medical file — rijksoverheid.nl
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