Transposition of the Blood Directive into national law--the perspective of Portugal.

European union has published a directive 2002/98/CE in January 2003. The goal of the directive is to standardize the requirements of safety and quality throughout the blood transfusion chain in the countries of the European union. Member states have to implement the principles of this directive in their own regulation. Portugal has already identified what will be the consequences of the new regulation in the health system.