Accommodation

Legislation: Not applicable.

MA Code of Conduct

Prescription pharmaceutical companies may provide accommodation to HCP attending a company-sponsored / organised or independent educational event or undertaking a consultancy, provided it is reasonable and appropriate to the time and duration of the event or consultancy, and the usual residence of the HCP.

No accommodation may be offered in places offering leisure and entertainment areas or activities and/or that are luxurious and/or extravagant.  In particular, the following are a non-exhaustive list of generally permitted accommodation:

• Congress hotels;
• Conference hotels;
• Educational facilities.

Statutory Laws

No specific rules. Any specifics must be assessed on the case-by-case basis.

INTERFARMA

Expenses with accommodation are limited to the event itself and are related solely to the invited professional, and may be extended to the days immediately before and immediately after the official agenda, in case logistics and transport issues justify such extension.

SINDUSFARMA

Members can sponsor or reimburse expenses with accommodations of the health area professionals in national and international events, during the period of the event, which can be extended to the days immediately prior to or after the official agenda, for logistics, locomotion and transportation purposes that will justify granting this sponsorship.

ABIMIP

No specific rules. Any specifics must be assessed on the case-by-case basis.

Statutory Laws and Regulations

No specific rules.

Codes of Conduct

Code of Ethics for Chinese Medical Doctors

No specific rules.

RDPAC Code

Member companies are allowed to cover room charges, including taxes. The hospitality should be appropriate and consistent with the period of the events (Article 7).

AdvaMed China Code

Companies may provide for reasonable hotels and incidental expenses for HCP travel. Companies  are  encouraged  to  pay  for hotels  directly  where practical.  Reimbursement of travel-related expenses over RMB 500 should not be made in cash (Article IX).

RTVSS: It has no specific restriction or limitation. Nonetheless, pharmaceuticals financing payments for accommodation that exceed one (1) minimum monthly wage during a six-month period made to the same recipient must be reported. 

The minimum monthly wage for 2020 is: COP $877.803 or approximately USD $260. 

The six-month periods goes from January to June, and July to December of each year. 

AFIDRO’S Code of Ethics: Hospitality sponsorship may only include registration, lodging and of the guest, which must be moderated and reasonable, and may only be offered for the duration of the scientific or professional activity. 

ANDI's Code of Ethics and Transparency: It sets the same standard as AFIDRO’S Code of Ethics.

The Ordinance: the Ordinance does not provide any specific provisions, however, general rules shall apply, namely; according to Article 19 (1 and 2) of the Ordinance, such professional and scientific conferences and lectures organized must be scientifically based and of an educational and professional nature. Moreover, content that does not fall within this definition shall be of an accompanying nature in relation to the main purpose and content of the conference or lecture respectively. Furthermore, organizers of the conferences and lectures are allowed to settle the expenses of the participants (venue, registration, travel, accommodation and meals) but only up to the amount of the actual value of the incurred expenses.

The Code: According to Article 11.1 (1) of the Code, all events organised or sponsored by  pharmaceutical companies or by a third party on behalf of pharmaceutical companies must be held in an appropriate location that is conductive to the main purpose of the event. To this end, the following shall be deemed as an appropriate location: (i) a separate, dedicated conference center or – if such conference center is integrated into accommodation facility classified as hotel – a hotel which has maximum 4 (four) stars and which is principally known for providing mainly business services, and (ii) hotel classified as "special standard hotel", which entails the following categories: Business (Cro. Poslovni), Meetings (Cro. Za sastanke) or Hotel Congress (Cro. Kongresni).

Moreover, neither a hotel with predominantly spa, wellness or leisure features nor locations recognized or famous for their leisure and extravagant features shall be regarded as "appropriate locations".

Finally, the Code stipulates in Article 11.2 (1) lit. b(3) that pharmaceutical companies may offer accommodation only where it is necessary with regard to the length of the event (eg for one overnight stay the minimum duration of the event should be 5 hours) or the time of beginning and ending of the event (eg morning and evening events) as well as in cases where the distance between the place of residence of the participant and the Location of the event exceeds 50 km.

Accommodation may not exceed the amount that these persons would normally be willing to pay themselves.

Arrival at the venue of the event must occur within 24 hours before start of the Event and departure must occur within 24 hours after the event finishes. Earlier arrival or later departure must not be paid by pharmaceutical company.

Directive

No specific rules.

EFPIA

As a general rule, the hospitality provided must not exceed what those individuals would normally be prepared to pay for themselves.

IFPMA

No specific rules.

The Finnish Medicines Act  or Degree 

Hospitality at purely professional or scientific events must always be moderate and remain secondary in relation to the main scientific purpose of the event. 

Code of Ethics issued by Pharma Industry Finland 

The hospitality must be reasonable, suitable to the situation as well as secondary to the purpose of the event and not extend any further than what the typical guest to the event would be prepared to pay for a corresponding event.

The accommodation must be of reasonable value and strictly limited to the purpose of the event.

It must be provided for in a written contract between the company and the HCP.

Such contract must be submitted to the relevant authority/professional association for prior (i) declaration or (ii) authorization, depending on the amounts at stake (threshold: €150 per night).

Please note that luxury hotels and sumptuary expenses will likely be refused.

Key information (including the name of the company and the HCP, the date of the contract, the amount and type of benefit granted to the HCP) must be disclosed on the French public health transparency website.  

StGB

No specific rules. However, the general principles outlined above apply.

HWG

No specific rules as it depends on the individual case. However, the general rules and restrictions on providing financial inducements and other gifts to HCPs may apply.

UWG

No specific rules.

FSA Code of Conduct Healthcare Professionals

Accommodation provided to HCPs must be appropriate and of subordinate importance in the light of the job-related and science-oriented character of the event.

The German maximum standard for the venue is generally as follows:

• 4-star business hotels (no resorts, no extraordinary wellness areas and offers, no increased experience or recreational character).
• 5-star hotels are possible, if the event does not provide any substantial incentive or possibility to use the hotel's leisure activities or luxury facilities. Extravagances are not permitted. Furthermore, the accommodation provided should be strictly limited to the necessary duration / number of nights. For example, in case of a 1-day event, generally, no accommodation should be provided at all, unless this is necessary under the circumstances of the individual case.

Accommodation may not extend beyond two nights.

Accommodation may only be offered in the context of events lasting for at least four hours.

The limit of EUR 150 maximum per day, including breakfast and VAT, applies.

5-star hotels may not be allowed.

The Prevention of Bribery Ordinance

No specific rules. 

HKAPI Code of Practice

Lavish or extravagant hotels should be avoided (para 5.2(c)). 

Code of Conduct

No specific rules.

Lowest level accommodation in line with the purpose of the event.

No leisure or recreational activities may be offered along with the accommodation provided (e.g. wellness services may not be paid for).

Number of nights provided cannot be extended compared to the length of the event.

FCC and its guidelines

Accommodation provided to HCPs must be reasonable and appropriate in light of normal business practices and not extravagant under normal social conventions.

Hospitality shall be equally provided to national and foreign HCPS. 

Provisions in this sense remain ambiguous: accommodation provided shall be reasonable (at CETIFARMA's discretion in accordance to regular standards) and not exceed the cost that HCPs would be willing to cover under similar circumstances.

The nature of the event is decisive for the allowable maximum amount of hospitality. Distinguishable are a meeting (bijeenkomst) and manifestation (manifestatie): 

Meeting: The content of the event has been approved by a scientific association. Or the event is organized by a collaborative effort of HCP's, if those HCP's are entirely independent to choose the content and execution of the event and the objectivity of all acting speakers is checked by the organizers. The amount of (reimbursed) hospitality shall not exceed EUR 500 per meeting and EUR 1500 per calendar year or the HCP bears 50% of the costs him/herself. 

Manifestation: For all events that are not Meetings, amount of (reimbursed) hospitality does not exceed EUR 75 per Event and EUR 375 per calendar year.

Accommodation for manifestations requires the HCP to bear 50%, included within the annual cap.

Medicines New Zealand Code of Practice

• A reasonable level of accommodation may be provided to delegates.
• The number of nights should be determined by the meeting agenda.
• Accommodation should not be provided for single day meetings unless the required travel would cause the delegate to miss the start or end of the meeting.
• Pharmaceutical companies must not subsidise or pay for any additional travel costs or expenses for accompanying persons or where those costs are not directly related to the conference.

Norwegian Pharma Law

No specific rules.

LMI Industry rules

No specific rules except the general extravagant or luxurius test referred to under Event venue.

A five star hotel would typically not be appropriate. 

For hosted events, LMI member companies may cover travel and/ or overnight stays, if the professional programme is of a minimum duration of 5 hours per day excluding the day of travel.

Under Pharmaceutical Law, organizations involved in development, manufacturing and (or) sales of pharmaceuticals; organizations that own the rights to pharmaceutical trade names; pharmaceutical wholesale trade organizations; pharmacies (including their representatives or other legal entities or individuals, acting on  behalf of such organizations) ("Organizations") are prohibited to perform the following actions in relation to healthcare professionals and heads of medical organizations:

• present gifts;
• pay money (with the exception of payment of fees under clinical trial agreements and fees connected with the performing by the healthcare professional of the pedagogical and (or) scientific activities);
• pay for entertainment, leisure, transportation to the leisure location;
• invite them to entertainment events financed by the Organization.

Four-star hotels only.  Exceptionally, accommodation at five-star hotels may be offered provided that the following requirements are met:

• The hotel is also the event venue or there was no availability for accommodation at the event venue;
• It is a business non-luxury hotel located in the metropolitan area;
• At least 200 HCPs participate in the event.

Five-star grand luxury hotels may never be allowed. This prohibition is extended to the use of its facilities (meeting rooms, restaurants, etc.) even if there is no accommodation.

Accommodation may only extended to the day after or before the  event.

Accommodation may only be offered where the scientific content covers most of the time of the event and it covers 60% of each working day at a minimum, hospitality may not include the sponsorship or organization of entertainment / leisure activities.

Companies are permitted to offer hospitality, including accommodation, provided the hospitality is limited to the main scientific objective of the event and offered only to HCPs (see Family members for further details). 

There are no specific rules on accommodation, but it should be the programme that attracts delegates and not the associated hospitality or venue.

Federal Law & Implementing Regulations, & Government-Issued Guidance: The laws and regulations do not specifically enumerate or define "appropriate" versus "inappropriate" accommodations, but enforcement action and settlement history show that selection is likely to impact the government's perception of potential intent to induce or reward. In addition, the HHS-OIG Guidance states generally, with respect to entertainment, recreation, travel, meals, gifts, gratuities, and other business courtesies that the AKS should be considered and that "compliance with the PhRMA Code with respect to these arrangements should substantially reduce a manufacturer’s risk." 68 Fed. Reg. 23,721, 23,738 (May 5, 2003). See below. 

State Laws & Implementing Regulations:  Some state laws incorporate adherence to the PhRMA Code and/or AdvaMed Code as part of their requirements (see below).  Some states, like New Jersey, prohibit the payment or subsidy of lodging costs for non-faculty prescribers attending an educational or promotional event. 

Industry Codes of Conduct: Industry Codes provide guidance on accommodations in certain circumstances. For example, the PhRMA Code provides that compensation for HCP lodgings for consultant arrangements and speaker programs should be reasonable and based on fair market value. The AdvaMed Code states that accommodations for HCPs to attend Company-conducted programs or meetings must be modest and reasonable under the circumstances and encourages companies to establish controls on the appropriate level of lodging accommodations.