Overview
The Netherlands has no peptide-specific statute; peptides are handled under the general Medicines Act (Geneesmiddelenwet), which means that any peptide presented or acting as a medicine — including semaglutide-class GLP-1 products and growth-hormone-related peptides — may only be sold or supplied if it holds a marketing authorisation, and in practice is prescription-only. Unauthorised research peptides such as BPC-157, TB-500 and retatrutide have no Dutch marketing authorisation, so stocking, selling, dispensing or importing them for human use is prohibited, and Customs stops unlicensed medicines and active substances at the border. Private individuals ordering prescription medicines online from outside Europe are importing them, which Dutch law does not allow. Peptides are not narcotics under the Opium Act, so the main legal exposure is medicines law and customs law rather than drug-scheduling law; the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ) issued a public warning in February 2026 about peptides sold online and is investigating vendor sites.
Key Points
- The Dutch Medicines Act (Geneesmiddelenwet) prohibits the sale, distribution or supply of any pharmaceutical product that has not been registered and granted a marketing authorisation in the Netherlands, which is the framework peptides fall under. [1]
- Article 40 of the Geneesmiddelenwet makes it an offence to place a medicine on the market without a marketing authorisation, and separately to stock, sell, deliver, dispense or import a medicine for which no marketing authorisation is in force. [2]
- A product is classified as a medicine in the Netherlands either because of how it is presented to the public (the 'presentation criterion') or because of its pharmacological action in the human body (the 'action criterion'), so a 'research use only' label does not by itself remove a peptide from medicines law. [3]
- Dutch Customs stops medicines and active pharmaceutical substances entering the Netherlands without the required licence or registration and notifies the health inspectorate. [4]
- The IGJ states that a private individual who orders medicines online from outside Europe is importing those medicines, which is prohibited by law, since only pharmacists, manufacturers and wholesalers can hold an import licence. [5]
- In February 2026 the IGJ publicly warned that peptides bought online can have serious or even fatal consequences, said it monitors compliance with the Opium Act and the Medicines Act, and confirmed it is investigating some peptide-selling websites. [6]
- The IGJ has stated that 'peptides' is used online as an umbrella term for very different substances, that semaglutide is a medicine that was being sold illegally online, that retatrutide injections appear to be the same, and that it assesses such products case by case. [7]
- In September 2025 the IGJ and the Medicines Evaluation Board (CBG) jointly warned against illegal online offers of medicines and pointed consumers to the EU common logo and the official register of authorised online sellers. [8]