21 U.S.C. § 952 — Importation of controlled substances

Page 893 TITLE 21—FOOD AND DRUGS § 952 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 [formerly I.R.C. 1954, sec- tion 4722 of Title 26] as a prerequisite to issuance of such a license, shall be superseded by a requirement of actual registration (as distinguished from provisional registration) as a manufacturer of that class of drug under section 303(a) of title II [section 823(a) of this title]. ‘‘(C) On and after the effective date of the repeal of such section 4722 [section 4722 of title 26] by section 1101(b)(3) of this title, but prior to the date specified in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, the requirement of registration under such section 4722 [section 4722 of title 26] as a prerequisite of a manufacturer’s license under the Narcotics Manufacturing Act of 1960 [sec- tions 501 to 517 of this title] shall be superseded by a re- quirement of either (i) actual registration as a manu- facturer under section 303 of title II [section 823 of this title] or (ii) provisional registration (by virtue of a pre- existing registration under such section 4722) under sec- tion 703 of title II [set out as a note under section 822 of this title].’’ SHORT TITLE Pub. L. 91–513, title III, § 1000, Oct. 27, 1970, 84 Stat. 1285, provided that: ‘‘This title [enacting this sub- chapter, amending sections 162 and 967 of this title, sec- tion 4251 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure, section 1584 of Title 19, Customs Duties, sections 4901, 4905, 6808, 7012, 7103, 7326, 7607, 7609, 7641, 7651, and 7655 of Title 26, Internal Revenue Code, section 2901 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, sections 529d, 529e, and 529f of former Title 31, Money and Finance, section 304m of former Title 40, Public Buildings, Prop- erty, and Works, section 3411 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, section 239a of former Title 46, Shipping, and section 787 of former Title 49, Transpor- tation, repealing sections 171 to 174, 176 to 185, 188 to 188n, 191 to 193, 197, 198, 199, and 501 to 517 of this title, sections 1401 to 1407, and 3616 of Title 18, sections 4701 to 4707, 4711 to 4716, 4721 to 4726, 4731 to 4736, 4741 to 4746, 4751 to 4757, 4761, 4762, 4771 to 4776, 7237, 7238, and 7491 of Title 26, sections 529a and 529g of former Title 31, sec- tion 1421m of Title 48, Territories and Insular Posses- sions, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and sections 171 and 957 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Controlled Substances Import and Ex- port Act’.’’ RULES AND REGULATIONS Pub. L. 91–513, title III, § 1105(d), Oct. 27, 1970, 84 Stat. 1296, provided: ‘‘Any orders, rules and regulations which have been promulgated under any law affected by this title [see Short Title note above] and which are in effect on the day preceding enactment of this title [Oct. 27, 1970] shall continue in effect until modified, superseded, or repealed.’’ § 952. Importation of controlled substances (a) Controlled substances in schedule I or II and narcotic drugs in schedule III, IV, or V; ex- ceptions It shall be unlawful to import into the cus- toms territory of the United States from any place outside thereof (but within the United States), or to import into the United States from any place outside thereof, any controlled substance in schedule I or II of subchapter I, or any narcotic drug in schedule III, IV, or V of subchapter I, or ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenylpropanolamine, except that— (1) such amounts of crude opium, poppy straw, concentrate of poppy straw, and coca leaves, and of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine, as the Attorney Gen- eral finds to be necessary to provide for med- ical, scientific, or other legitimate purposes, and (2) such amounts of any controlled substance in schedule I or II or any narcotic drug in schedule III, IV, or V that the Attorney Gen- eral finds to be necessary to provide for the medical, scientific, or other legitimate needs of the United States— (A) during an emergency in which domes- tic supplies of such substance or drug are found by the Attorney General to be inad- equate, (B) in any case in which the Attorney Gen- eral finds that competition among domestic manufacturers of the controlled substance is inadequate and will not be rendered ade- quate by the registration of additional man- ufacturers under section 823 of this title, or (C) in any case in which the Attorney Gen- eral finds that such controlled substance is in limited quantities exclusively for sci- entific, analytical, or research uses, may be so imported under such regulations as the Attorney General shall prescribe. No crude opium may be so imported for the purpose of manufacturing heroin or smoking opium. (b) Nonnarcotic controlled substances in sched- ule III, IV, or V It shall be unlawful to import into the cus- toms territory of the United States from any place outside thereof (but within the United States), or to import into the United States from any place outside thereof, any non- narcotic controlled substance in schedule III, IV, or V, unless such nonnarcotic controlled sub- stance— (1) is imported for medical, scientific, or other legitimate uses, and (2) is imported pursuant to such notification, or declaration, or in the case of any nonnar- cotic controlled substance in schedule III, such import permit, notification, or declara- tion, as the Attorney General may by regula- tion prescribe, except that if a nonnarcotic controlled substance in schedule IV or V is also listed in schedule I or II of the Conven- tion on Psychotropic Substances it shall be imported pursuant to such import permit re- quirements, prescribed by regulation of the Attorney General, as are required by the Con- vention. (c) Coca leaves In addition to the amount of coca leaves au- thorized to be imported into the United States under subsection (a), the Attorney General may permit the importation of additional amounts of coca leaves. All cocaine and ecgonine (and all salts, derivatives, and preparations from which cocaine or ecgonine may be synthesized or made) contained in such additional amounts of coca leaves imported under this subsection shall be destroyed under the supervision of an author- ized representative of the Attorney General. (d) Application for increased importation of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenyl- propanolamine (1) With respect to a registrant under section 958 of this title who is authorized under sub- section (a)(1) to import ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenylpropanolamine, at any time during the year the registrant may Page 894 TITLE 21—FOOD AND DRUGS § 953 apply for an increase in the amount of such chemical that the registrant is authorized to import, and the Attorney General may approve the application if the Attorney General deter- mines that the approval is necessary to provide for medical, scientific, or other legitimate pur- poses regarding the chemical. (2) With respect to the application under para- graph (1): (A) Not later than 60 days after receiving the application, the Attorney General shall ap- prove or deny the application. (B) In approving the application, the Attor- ney General shall specify the period of time for which the approval is in effect, or shall provide that the approval is effective until the registrant involved is notified in writing by the Attorney General that the approval is ter- minated. (C) If the Attorney General does not approve or deny the application before the expiration of the 60-day period under subparagraph (A), the application is deemed to be approved, and such approval remains in effect until the At- torney General notifies the registrant in writ- ing that the approval is terminated. (e) Reference to ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenylpropanolamine Each reference in this section to ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenylpropanolamine in- cludes each of the salts, optical isomers, and salts of optical isomers of such chemical. (Pub. L. 91–513, title III, § 1002, Oct. 27, 1970, 84 Stat. 1285; Pub. L. 95–633, title I, § 105, Nov. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 3772; Pub. L. 98–473, title II, §§ 519–521, Oct. 12, 1984, 98 Stat. 2075; Pub. L. 109–177, title VII, § 715, Mar. 9, 2006, 120 Stat. 264.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Schedules I, II, III, IV, and V, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (b), are set out in section 812(c) of this title. AMENDMENTS 2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–177, § 715(1)(A), inserted ‘‘or ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenylpropanola- mine,’’ after ‘‘schedule III, IV, or V of subchapter I,’’ in introductory provisions. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 109–177, § 715(1)(B), inserted ‘‘, and of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and phenyl- propanolamine,’’ after ‘‘coca leaves’’. Subsecs. (d), (e). Pub. L. 109–177, § 715(2), added sub- secs. (d) and (e). 1984—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 98–473, § 519, amended par. (1) generally, inserting references to poppy straw and concentrate of poppy straw. Subsec. (a)(2)(C). Pub. L. 98–473, § 520, added subpar. (C). Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 98–473, § 521, substituted ‘‘is im- ported pursuant to such notification, or declaration, or in the case of any nonnarcotic controlled substance in schedule III, such import permit, notification, or dec- laration, as the Attorney General may by regulation prescribe, except that if a nonnarcotic controlled sub- stance in schedule IV or V is also listed in schedule I or II of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances it shall be imported pursuant to such import permit re- quirements, prescribed by regulation of the Attorney General, as are required by the Convention’’ for ‘‘is im- ported pursuant to such notification or declaration re- quirements as the Attorney General may by regulation prescribe, except that if a nonnarcotic controlled sub- stance in schedule III, IV, or V is also listed in schedule I or II of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances it shall be imported pursuant to such import permit re- quirements, prescribed by regulation of the Attorney General, as are required by the Convention’’. 1978—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 95–633 inserted provision relating to exception for nonnarcotic controlled sub- stances listed in schedule I or II of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1978 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 95–633 effective on date the Convention on Psychotropic Substances enters into force in the United States [July 15, 1980], see section 112 of Pub. L. 95–633, set out as an Effective Date note under section 801a of this title. EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective on first day of seventh calendar month that begins after Oct. 26, 1970, see 1105(a) of Pub. L. 91–513, set out as a under section 951 of this title. § 953. Exportation of controlled substances (a) Narcotic drugs in schedule I, II, III, or IV It shall be unlawful to export from the United States any narcotic drug in schedule I, II, III, or IV unless— (1) it is exported to a country which is a party to— (A) the International Opium Convention of 1912 for the Suppression of the Abuses of Opium, Morphine, Cocaine, and Derivative Drugs, or to the International Opium Con- vention signed at Geneva on February 19, 1925; or (B) the Convention for Limiting the Manu- facture and Regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs concluded at Geneva, July 13, 1931, as amended by the protocol signed at Lake Success on December 11, 1946, and the protocol bringing under international control drugs outside the scope of the con- vention of July 13, 1931, for limiting the manufacture and regulating the distribution of narcotic drugs (as amended by the pro- tocol signed at Lake Success on December 11, 1946), signed at Paris, November 19, 1948; or (C) the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, signed at New York, March 30, 1961; (2) such country has instituted and main- tains, in conformity with the conventions to which it is a party, a system for the control of imports of narcotic drugs which the Attorney General deems adequate; (3) the narcotic drug is consigned to a holder of such permits or licenses as may be required under the laws of the country of import, and a permit or license to import such drug has been issued by the country of import; (4) substantial evidence is furnished to the Attorney General by the exporter that (A) the narcotic drug is to be applied exclusively to medical or scientific uses within the country of import, and (B) there is an actual need for the narcotic drug for medical or scientific uses within such country; and (5) a permit to export the narcotic drug in each instance has been issued by the Attorney General.