Greenwich Council - Trading - Non medicinal poisons licence

Unless you are a registered pharmacist, in order to sell certain medicines called ‘Part II Poisons’, you need to obtain a licence from the Council.

What are Part II poisons?

These are defined by Poisons Act 1972 and Part II of the Poisons List Order 1982. You can download the Part II Poisons List here.

Complete the application form. You can either:
- download the Poisons registration application form, or
- contact us and we will post it to you.
Post it to the address given on the form. You should also enlcose a cheque for the application fee of £40, made out to Greenwich Council.
We will send a Council Officer to inspect your premises.
Once we have processed your application, we will enter your name on the Council’s register of people who may sell Part II poisons, and issue your licence.
You must apply to renew your licence annually, and pay a renewal fee (£40). If you don’t do this, your name will be removed from the register of persons entitled to sell Part II poisons.

These include the following:

The poisons may only be sold from the premises named on the Council's list.
The container of the poison must labelled with:
- the name of the poison, and
- the proportion of the poison to the total ingredients, and
- the word 'poison' or other prescribed description of the character of the medicine, and
- the name of the seller and the address of the premises on which it is sold.

You can download more details about the requirements for selling Part II Poisons here.

If you are convicted of failing to comply with the Poisons Act 1972, you can be fined up to £2,500, plus up to £10 for each day the offence continues.
If you wilfully delay or obstruct an inspector from the Council, refuse to allow samples to be taken, or fail to give information that you are required to give, you could be fined up to £500.
If a Court considers you to be unfit to have your name on the list of persons entitled to sell non-medicinal poisons, it can order your name to be removed from the list. You can also be disqualified from having your name on any local authority list for a period specified by the Court.
No person on the list may use any title, emblem or description that suggests they are entitled to sell any poison that they are not entitled to sell. If convicted of this offence, you can be fined up to £500, plus up to £5 for each day the offence continues.

Please contact us.