Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act of 2021
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Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act of 2021
This bill requires the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow for the personal importation of prescription drugs from Canada in certain instances.
Such a drug must (1) be purchased from an approved Canadian pharmacy and dispensed by a pharmacist licensed in Canada; (2) be purchased by an individual for personal use only and in quantities not to exceed a 90-day supply; (3) be filled using a valid prescription from a physician licensed in a U.S. state; and (4) have the same active ingredients, route of administration, dosage form, and strength as an FDA-approved drug. Certain types of drugs may not be imported under this program, such as controlled substances, biological products, or intravenously injected drugs.
An approved pharmacy under this program must be located and licensed in Canada and meet additional requirements, such as participation in ongoing and comprehensive quality assurance programs.
The FDA shall publish a list of approved Canadian pharmacies on a website.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 4, 2021. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 5, 2021: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 117th Congress (2021-22), 362 of the 15,242 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Chellie Pingree (D-ME) introduced it on February 4, 2021, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 4, 2021, 2044 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2043 days ago, on February 5, 2021.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 117th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2023 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers