Supplying Medicines and Supplements to Barbados

Barbados is changing how it regulates medicines. Today the Barbados Drug Service handles regulatory functions and runs national competitive tenders for the national formulary, with product prequalification.

In mid-2026 Parliament approved the Barbados Medical Products Act, which creates a Barbados Medical Products Authority. Under it, medical products, including herbal medicines, may not be imported or sold unless they are registered and have a marketing authorisation. PAHO said in July 2026 that the authority is not yet operational, so check the current position before you file.

Barbados at a glance

How to supply medicines to Barbados

1. Find a Barbadian partner. A local importer or agent handles prequalification and, once the new authority opens, registration.
2. Prepare the dossier. A CTD dossier with a CoPP and the plant's GMP evidence.
3. Use the regional route. If the product is approved by a stringent regulator or WHO-prequalified, a recommendation from the Caribbean Regulatory System (CRS), run by CARPHA, can support registration across CARICOM.
4. Supply. Private pharmacies through your partner, or Barbados Drug Service tenders for the national formulary.

For a medicine not on the formulary or not yet authorised, ask your partner what the Barbados Drug Service allows for your case. See named-patient and special import and government tender supply.

Supplements

The 2026 Medical Products Act counts herbal medicines as medical products. Until the new authority is running, confirm with the Barbados Drug Service how your supplement will be treated. We help brands get supplements made under their own label by GMP-certified contract manufacturers: see nutraceutical private label.

What people in Barbados search for

Semrush has no data for Barbados, but Google Keyword Planner shows people there searching in plain English, with “ashwagandha”, “creatine”, “protein powder”, “probiotics”, “magnesium” and “zinc” each between 100 and 1,000 searches a month. Medicines are searched by generic name in the same range, among them “amoxicillin”, “metformin”, “amlodipine”, “atorvastatin” and “prednisolone”.

How importers and distributors in Barbados search

Trade phrases such as “pharmaceutical distributors”, “pharmaceutical wholesalers”, “medicine suppliers” and “private label supplements” register only weakly in Keyword Planner, at 10 to 100 searches a month.

Originator brands also show up by name: Augmentin (amoxicillin and clavulanic acid), Buscopan (hyoscine butylbromide), Flagyl (metronidazole), Ozempic (semaglutide) and Panadol (paracetamol). Brand names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify the medicine.

Supplements we can help you make

Formulary tenders cover a wide range of essential medicines. Some examples we list:

Documents to ask your supplier for

• A Certificate of a Pharmaceutical Product (CoPP) in WHO format.
• The plant's GMP evidence, such as a WHO-GMP, EU-GMP or PIC/S certificate, plus any inspection by your regulator.
• The registration dossier (CTD or ACTD), with bioequivalence data for generics where required.
• Stability data for hot climates.
• A Certificate of Analysis for every batch.

Not sure a supplier is genuine? Read how to verify a pharmaceutical supplier. For the neighbouring markets, see our Latin America and Caribbean import guide.

Frequently asked questions