As of 1 January 2018, electronic invoices issued to bodies of the National Health Service (NHS) for the purchase of pharmaceutical products shall have to carry the Marketing Authorisation (MA) number and the quantity of product purchased. In addition, such invoices will have to be made available to AIFA as well. NHS bodies are not allowed to pay invoices which do not carry such information.

By circular letter dated 1 February 2018, the Ministry of Economy and Finance clarified the implementing rules and gave some clarifications especially about the compilation of the invoice fields, in order to avoid criticalities when invoices are sent and the subsequent payment is made by NHS bodies.

In order to indicate the correct MA number in the electronic invoice, AIFA will provide a daily updated list of authorised medicinal products for human use with the respective MA number.