Deal to End Seizure of Rx Bought in Canada

WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans agreed Thursday to prohibit customs agents from seizing prescription drugs that Americans buy in Canada and bring back into the United States.

The deal would let Americans carry up to a 90-day supply of medication back to the U.S. from Canada without being stopped by customs agents, said House and Senate Republicans. But it would not let Americans buy less-expensive prescriptions over the Internet or by mail order, officials said.

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) agreed to add the measure to a pending homeland security spending bill.

“This really breaks the dam, and it shows that it’s only a matter of time before we pass a full-blown reimportation bill,” said Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who led the fight in the Senate to prohibit the Homeland Security Department from seizing prescription drugs being carried over the border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is an arm of the Homeland Security Department.

Vitter acknowledged that sales of drugs through mail order or through the Internet are significant. But he added, “I think support for that is going to continue, and going to continue to grow, no matter what this bill says or doesn’t say.”

Although importing drugs into the United States is illegal, the Food and Drug Administration generally has not stopped small amounts of medicine purchased for personal use. But customs officials began intercepting imported prescription drugs in November. Since then, agents have seized more than 34,000 packages of drugs.