Article 27 of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Establishments Law

This article gives trading warehouses a permission to address product shortages, on three conditions:

1. The product must be registered.
2. The producing factory must not have supplied it.
3. The Authority must approve the import.

If these conditions are met, the warehouse may import the pharmaceutical or herbal product itself. The text does not limit this permission to the warehouse representing the factory, and does not set procedures or criteria for requesting approval. Importing without the Authority's approval is therefore outside this permission even if the product is registered and unavailable.

The practical benefit is that a factory's failure to supply a product does not leave the market without it; the article provides another route to bring it in, under the Authority's control. It concerns registered products only.

It is preceded by Article 26, which sets to whom warehouses may sell, and followed by Article 28, which bars a factory from producing in commercial quantities before registration.

To see how this rule affects a particular situation, it is advisable to consult a lawyer who specializes in health and pharmaceutical regulation.