THE Ministry of Health has warned local officials that unlicensed pharmacies will need to register with the government by the end of February or face closure, a municipal health official said Wednesday.

Ouch Sam, deputy director of the municipal Health Department, said Health Minister Mam Bunheng had recently convened a meeting of municipal and provincial health officials to inform them of the new deadline.

“We have orders from the ministry, so we need to ask the Phnom Penh Municipality to take legal action against more than 100 unlicensed pharmacies in the capital.”

He added that violators of the order will face punishment under the 1996 Law on the Management of Pharmaceuticals.

That law stipulates that owners of unlicensed pharmacies can face fines of between 1 million and 10 million riels (US$240 to $2,400).

Meanwhile, complaints against the owners of nine unlicensed pharmacies, targeted during a November raid, have not yet been processed by Phnom Penh Municipal Court, prosecutor Sok Kalyan said.