Advertising of medical devices in Latvia — the Union rule that governs it and the national supervision layer
Latvia applies Regulation (EU) 2017/745 directly, so the operative advertising rule for medical devices is Article 7 (Claims) of the MDR: in the labelling, instructions for use, making available, putting into service and advertising of devices it is prohibited to use text, names, trademarks, pictures and figurative or other signs that may mislead the user or the patient with regard to the device's intended purpose, safety and performance — by ascribing functions and properties the device does not have (a), by creating a false impression regarding treatment or diagnosis, functions or properties the device does not have (b), by failing to inform of a likely risk associated with use in line with the intended purpose (c), or by suggesting uses other than those stated to form part of the intended purpose for which the conformity assessment was carried out (d). Latvia has enacted no device-specific advertising instrument. The Cabinet Regulation that implements the MDR, Ministru kabineta noteikumi Nr. 461 "Medicīnisko ierīču noteikumi" (in force from 23.08.2023), contains no advertising provision and its scope clause (points 1.1–1.5) carries no advertising limb. The national layer that does apply is the general Reklāmas likums (Advertising Law): advertising must be lawful, truthful and objective and must comply with honest advertising practice and the principles of fair competition (s. 3(1)); misleading advertising is prohibited (s. 8(1)–(2)); supervision is shared between the Consumer Rights Protection Centre, the Competition Council, the National Electronic Mass Media Council and — for medicinal-product advertising only — the Health Inspectorate (s. 13(1)); the supervisory authority may order the advertiser to add essential information, to remove elements from the advertisement, to prohibit its distribution or to require its withdrawal (s. 15(4)); and it may impose a fine of up to EUR 14,000 for advertising that does not comply with statutory requirements (s. 20(1)). The device-specific advertising content rules that the Advertising Law enables the Cabinet of Ministers to lay down under s. 7(2) have never been adopted for medical devices, although they have been used for medicinal products (MK noteikumi Nr. 378).
- MDR Article 7 applies in Latvia directly, Latvia being a Member State; the Advertising Law supplies no device-specific advertising content rule of its own but does supply the supervisory authority, the enforcement orders and the fine.
- The Health Inspectorate's advertising competence under s. 13(1) is expressly confined to 'zāļu reklāmas jomā' (the field of medicinal-product advertising); advertising of medical devices therefore falls to the general supervisors named in the same provision, principally the Consumer Rights Protection Centre.
- Advertising addressed solely to persons engaged in commercial or professional activity is not exempt: under s. 2.1(2) only ss. 8 (misleading advertising) and 9 (comparative advertising) of the Advertising Law then apply, and those apply in full.
- Verified negatives from the instruments read on 2026-09-16 by full-text search: the Reklāmas likums contains zero occurrences of 'ierīc' (device) and exactly one occurrence of 'medicīn', inside the word 'veterinārmedicīnisko' in s. 13(1); Ministru kabineta noteikumi Nr. 461 contains zero occurrences of 'rekl'.
- The text of the Advertising Law read is the consolidated text as served by Likumi.lv on 2026-09-16, not the gazette print of a single amendment; the latest amendment recorded in that consolidated text ('Ar grozījumiem, kas izdarīti ar ... 17.11.2016. likumu, kas stājas spēkā 13.12.2016.') entered into force on 13.12.2016.
Effective from 2021-05-26
NATIONAL LAYER, quoted in the original Latvian with an English translation. Read on 2026-09-16 at https://likumi.lv/ta/id/163-reklamas-likums (Reklāmas likums; published Latvijas Vēstnesis 7, 10.01.2000; latest amendment recorded in the consolidated text in force from 13.12.2016). — 1. pants: 'Reklāma ir ar saimniecisko vai profesionālo darbību saistīts jebkuras formas vai jebkura veida paziņojums vai pasākums, kura nolūks ir veicināt preču vai pakalpojumu (arī nekustamā īpašuma, tiesību un saistību) popularitāti vai pieprasījumu pēc tiem.' [Advertisement is any announcement or measure, in any form or of any kind, connected with commercial or professional activity, whose purpose is to promote the popularity of, or demand for, goods or services (including immovable property, rights and obligations).] — 2.1 pants: '(1) Šo likumu piemēro, ja uz attiecīgo gadījumu nav attiecināms Negodīgas komercprakses aizlieguma likums. (2) Šā likuma 8. un 9.pantu piemēro, ja reklāma adresēta tikai personām, kas nodarbojas ar saimniecisko vai profesionālo darbību.' [(1) This Law applies where the Prohibition of Unfair Commercial Practices Law does not apply to the case at hand. (2) Sections 8 and 9 of this Law apply where the advertisement is addressed only to persons engaged in commercial or professional activity.] — 3. pants (1): 'Reklāmai jābūt likumīgai, patiesai un objektīvai, tā veidojama saskaņā ar godprātīgu reklāmas praksi. Reklāma nedrīkst mazināt sabiedrības uzticēšanos reklāmai, un tai jāatbilst godīgas konkurences principiem.' [Advertising must be lawful, truthful and objective and must be prepared in accordance with honest advertising practice. Advertising must not reduce the public's trust in advertising and must comply with the principles of fair competition.] — 7. pants: '(1) Papildu prasības reklāmas jomā var noteikt citos likumos. (2) Papildu prasības attiecībā uz atsevišķu preču, preču grupu vai pakalpojumu reklāmas saturu, noformējumu vai izplatīšanas kārtību (arī reklāmas izplatīšanas kārtību atsevišķos masu informācijas līdzekļos) nosaka Ministru kabinets.' [(1) Additional requirements in the field of advertising may be laid down in other laws. (2) Additional requirements as to the content, presentation or distribution procedure of advertising for individual goods, groups of goods or services (including the procedure for distributing advertising in particular mass media) are laid down by the Cabinet of Ministers.] — 8. pants: '(1) Maldinoša reklāma ir aizliegta. (2) Maldinoša reklāma ir tāda reklāma, kura jebkādā veidā, ieskaitot tās pasniegšanas veidu, tieši vai netieši maldina vai varētu maldināt un kura sava maldinošā rakstura dēļ varētu ietekmēt personas ekonomisko rīcību vai kura kaitē vai varētu kaitēt konkurentam.' [(1) Misleading advertising is prohibited. (2) Misleading advertising is advertising which in any way, including its presentation, directly or indirectly misleads or is likely to mislead and which, because of its misleading character, is likely to affect a person's economic behaviour, or which harms or is likely to harm a competitor.] — 13. pants (1), supervisors: 'Šā likuma ievērošanu savas kompetences ietvaros uzrauga Patērētāju tiesību aizsardzības centrs, Konkurences padome, Nacionālā elektronisko plašsaziņas līdzekļu padome, zāļu reklāmas jomā — Veselības inspekcija, veterinārmedicīnisko un veterinārfarmaceitisko pakalpojumu sniedzējiem paredzētās veterināro zāļu reklāmas jomā — Pārtikas un veterinārais dienests (turpmāk — Uzraudzības iestāde).' [Compliance with this Law is supervised, within their competence, by the Consumer Rights Protection Centre, the Competition Council and the National Electronic Mass Media Council, in the field of medicinal-product advertising by the Health Inspectorate, and in the field of veterinary-medicinal-product advertising intended for providers of veterinary-medical and veterinary-pharmaceutical services by the Food and Veterinary Service (hereinafter the supervisory authority).] — 15. pants (4), enforcement orders: 'Ja reklāma neatbilst normatīvo aktu prasībām, Uzraudzības iestāde ir tiesīga pieņemt vienu vai vairākus lēmumus, ar kuriem: 1) uzdod reklāmas devējam sniegt reklāmā, preču marķējumā vai citādā veidā papildu informāciju, kas ir būtiska no personu aizsardzības vai saimnieciskās darbības veicēju, vai profesionālās darbības veicēju likumīgo tiesību viedokļa; 2) pieprasa izslēgt no reklāmas atsevišķus elementus (informāciju, vizuālos attēlus, skaņu vai citus speciālos efektus); 3) aizliedz izplatīt reklāmu; 4) pieprasa atsaukt reklāmu'. [If advertising does not comply with statutory requirements, the supervisory authority may adopt one or more decisions by which it: 1) instructs the advertiser to include in the advertisement, in the product labelling or otherwise additional information that is essential from the point of view of the protection of persons or of the lawful rights of persons engaged in commercial or professional activity; 2) requires the removal from the advertisement of individual elements (information, visual images, sound or other special effects); 3) prohibits the distribution of the advertisement; 4) requires the advertisement to be withdrawn.] — 20. pants (1): 'Uzraudzības iestāde par normatīvo aktu prasībām neatbilstošas reklāmas sniegšanu vai izplatīšanu ir tiesīga uzlikt soda naudu līdz 14 000 euro.' [The supervisory authority may impose a fine of up to EUR 14,000 for the provision or distribution of advertising that does not comply with statutory requirements.] STRUCTURAL GAP, verified by full-text search of the instruments read: no Latvian instrument supplements MDR Article 7 for devices. The Advertising Law's device-advertising power in s. 7(2) has been exercised for medicinal products — Ministru kabineta noteikumi Nr. 378 on the advertising of medicinal products are issued 'saskaņā ar Farmācijas likuma 5.panta 5.punktu un 56.pantu un Reklāmas likuma 7.panta otro daļu' — but never for medical devices; and the MDR implementing regulation, MK noteikumi Nr. 461 'Medicīnisko ierīču noteikumi' (https://likumi.lv/ta/id/344674-medicinisko-iericu-noteikumi, in force from 23.08.2023), contains no advertising provision at all (zero occurrences of 'rekl'), its scope clause (points 1.1–1.5) carrying no advertising limb and its power basis being Ārstniecības likuma 34. panta otrās daļas 2.–5. punktu un likuma "Par atbilstības novērtēšanu" 7. panta pirmo un otro daļu. Neighbouring provisions were checked and are medicines-only: Ārstniecības likums s. 11 concerns treatment and treatment providers, and Farmācijas likums s. 5(5) and s. 14(10) concern medicinal products. DATE OF APPLICATION of the primary source: Article 123(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/745 as published set application from 26 May 2020. Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2020/561 (read on 2026-09-16 at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2020/561/oj) amends it: 'Article 123 is amended as follows: (a) in paragraph 2, the date "26 May 2020" is replaced by "26 May 2021"'. Article 7 of the MDR has therefore applied since 26 May 2021.

