Chapter V: Retail distribution

I. – Authorisation to set up or transfer a pharmacy or to group together pharmacies, except for those mentioned in article L. 5125-10, is requested from the Director General of the Regional Health Agency of the place where the operation is planned, by the pharmacist(s) applying on their own behalf, or on behalf of the company they represent, to obtain this authorisation. Where the application is submitted by a company…

The Director General of the Regional Health Agency for the place where the operation is planned shall send the complete application file provided for in I of Article R. 5125-1 to the competent council of the National Order of Pharmacists, and to the regional representative appointed by each trade union representing the profession within the meaning ofArticle L. 162-33 of the Social Security Code. In the case of requests for…

Failure to respond to an application for authorisation provided for in I of Article R. 5125-1 within four months of its registration will be deemed to constitute rejection.

When the Director General of the Regional Health Agency decides, in application of the fifth paragraph of Article L. 5125-18, to determine the sector or sectors of the municipality in which the pharmacy is to be located, he shall reject the application by order if the location initially proposed is not located in this sector or one of these sectors. The applicant has a non-renewable period of nine months from…

The initial application may be confirmed until the expiry of a period of two months from notification of the rejection decision or from the formation of this decision when it is implicit. In the meantime, the benefit of the rules of anteriority provided for in article L. 5125-20, attached to the initial application, is retained. For the purposes of grandfathering, the confirmatory application is considered to have been submitted on…

The rules of priority and precedence provided for in article L. 5125-20 are assessed among applications for the creation or transfer of a pharmacy or the grouping of pharmacies in the same municipality or a grouping of municipalities provided for in article L. 5125-6-1. Prior rights are assessed among applications with the same priority rank, according to the date and time of registration mentioned in article R. 5125-1. In the…

The decision of the Director General of the Regional Health Agency authorising the creation, transfer or consolidation of a facility is published in the Recueil des actes administratifs of the regional prefecture and, where applicable, of the other competent regional prefectures. The ministerial order authorising the creation, transfer or regrouping of a facility following an appeal is published in the Journal officiel de la République française.