On 27 December 2016, the Belgian Law of 18 December 2016 concerning various health-related matters (“the Sunshine Act”) was adopted by the Belgian Ministry for Public Health. The Sunshine Act provides that life sciences companies must publically disclose information concerning all pecuniary advantages or benefits in kind granted, directly or indirectly from Belgium or elsewhere, to a number of defined beneficiaries. These include healthcare professionals or healthcare professional organisations established in Belgium.

The information concerning transfers of value must be published annually on a website accessible by the public (www.betransparent.be) and at the latest on 31 May of the year after the relevant reporting period. For the transfers of value which occurred in 2017, the deadline is therefore, on Thursday 31 May 2018.

Medical devices and pharmaceutical companies must also ensure compliance with their data protection obligations and inform relevant beneficiaries including healthcare professionals that they are processing their personal data for the purpose of the Belgian sunshine rules. Such information must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which will apply from 25 May 2018.

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