Advertising of medical-purpose equipment in Azerbaijan requires that its use be authorised by the relevant executive authority and confines such advertising to medical-professional channels
Article 16-1 of the Law on Medicinal Products governs advertising in Azerbaijan and names medical equipment in its own terms. Article 16-1.1 provides that in the Republic of Azerbaijan only medicinal products dispensed without a prescription, medical-purpose equipment ('tibbi təyinatlı texnika') whose use (application) has been authorised by the relevant executive authority, and treatment, prophylaxis, diagnosis and rehabilitation methods may be advertised — so an advertisement for equipment whose use has not been authorised by that authority is outside the permitted class. Article 16-1.4 requires the advertiser of prescription-free medicinal products, medical-purpose equipment and such methods to provide the advertising producer and the advertising distributor, on their request, with copies of the certificate issued by the Ministry of Health's accredited conformity-assessment body or by accredited conformity-assessment bodies, of the registration certificate confirming the state registration of the product, of the instructions for use (or, where the instructions do not state the dispensing arrangement, of a document containing the relevant information), of the certificate of origin, and, where research results are referred to in the advertisement, of the document confirming the research results. Article 16-1.6 provides that, subject to articles 16-1.1 and 16-1.4, advertising of products requiring special preparation for use, and of medical equipment, may be published only in press outlets specialised in the medical field and at events held for medical workers and pharmacists. Article 16-1.5 requires an advertisement to state that use of prescription-free medicinal products and use of medical equipment is accompanied by adverse effects where that is the case, and to note the need to consult a doctor or specialist. Article 16-1.7 prohibits advertising campaigns accompanied by the free distribution or sale of medicinal products or by the provision of paid or free medical services. Article 16-1.3 disapplies the article 16-1.2.2 and 16-1.2.3 prohibitions (reference to concrete cases of recovery, and expressions of gratitude) to advertising published at exhibitions, seminars and conferences connected with medicine or pharmacy.
- The article's term is 'tibbi təyinatlı texnika' (medical-purpose equipment) and 'tibbi texnika' (medical equipment), not the defined term 'tibb vasitəsi' (medical device) of article 1.0.1 of the Law; the bounded claim is therefore stated in the article's own vocabulary, and its reach over any given device turns on whether that device is medical-purpose equipment.
- Article 1-1 of the Law excludes article 16-1 from the device-equivalence clause, so article 16-1 reaches equipment by its own express words rather than through the deeming clause — the same structure as article 9-1, which also regulates devices expressly while being listed in the carve-out.
- The article prohibits advertising outside the permitted class rather than requiring a pre-clearance approval for each advertisement; the enforcement instrument named in the article is the advertiser's duty to supply supporting certificates on request under article 16-1.4.
- Article 16-1.8 routes advertising of biologically active food supplements to article 30 of the Law on Advertising; no equivalent express device carve-out to the Law on Advertising was found in the articles read.
Source language is Azerbaijani; passages are quoted in the original with an English translation. Retrieved 2026-09-16 over direct HTTPS from the National Legal Information System's generated PDF of the consolidated Law on Medicinal Products No. 208-IIIQ (HTTP 200, application/pdf, 461270 bytes).
