The article examines the issue of the specifics of the criminal law protection of pharmaceutical activity in the circulation of medicinal products in acts of foreign criminal legislation.
 The author proposes to single out the most typical types of criminal offenses that encroach on pharmaceutical activity depending on the typical types of "impact” of pharmaceutical activity, namely when ensuring various stages of trade and other circulation (turnover) of medicinal products and other items of pharmaceutical activity.
 The author conducts a thorough review of the criminal legislation of such countries as the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Austria, the Swiss Confederation, the Kingdom of Spain, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Poland, Turkey, Romania, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Republic of Moldova, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Azerbaijan . Such acts of criminal legislation are analyzed from the point of view of the scope of criminal legal protection of the sphere of circulation of medicinal products and in relation to the norms defined in the criminal legislation of Ukraine.
 The article notes that the provisions of acts of foreign criminal legislation establish typical and atypical types of criminal offenses that encroach on pharmaceutical activity as an independent object of criminal law protection.
 The author's attention is drawn to the fact that acts of foreign legislation define both a more "broad" and a smaller ("narrow") scope of criminal offenses of a specific type. And in separate acts of foreign criminal legislation, the concept of illegal medicinal products trafficking as an independent type of criminal offense is defined in different ways.
 It is noted that the conducted comparative legal research demonstrated that the most complete scope of criminal legal protection of circulation of medicinal products and circulation of medical devices as elements of pharmaceutical activity is presented in the German and Swiss "models" of criminal legal protection. These models of criminal law protection received a detailed review and analysis, due to the detailed provisions of the criminal legislation of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Swiss Confederation.