Title 21 — Food and DrugsRelease 119-73

§379f Recovery and retention of fees for freedom of information requests

Title 21 › Chapter CHAPTER 9— - FEDERAL FOOD, DRUG, AND COSMETIC ACT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER VII— - GENERAL AUTHORITY › Part Part C— - Fees › Subpart subpart 1— - freedom of information fees › § 379f

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary, through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, may charge fees under section 552(a)(4)(A) of title 5 to recover reasonable costs of handling Freedom of Information Act requests for records the Commissioner manages or was assigned. The Commissioner may keep those fees and must create an accounting system to track the money. Those fees can only pay for processing those requests and cannot be used to reduce funds for other parts of this law. A requester can still ask for a fee waiver under section 552(a)(4)(A) of title 5.

Full Legal Text

Title 21, §379f

Food and Drugs — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary, acting through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, may—

(1)set and charge fees, in accordance with section 552(a)(4)(A) of title 5, to recover all reasonable costs incurred in processing requests made under section 552 of title 5 for records obtained or created under this chapter or any other Federal law for which responsibility for administration has been delegated to the Commissioner by the Secretary;

(2)retain all fees charged for such requests; and

(3)establish an accounting system and procedures to control receipts and expenditures of fees received under this section.

(b)The Secretary and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs shall not use fees received under this section for any purpose other than funding the processing of requests described in subsection (a)(1). Such fees shall not be used to reduce the amount of funds made to carry out other provisions of this chapter.

(c)Nothing in this section shall supersede the right of a requester to obtain a waiver of fees pursuant to section 552(a)(4)(A) of title 5.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 379c of this title prior to renumbering by Pub. L. 102–571.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

21 U.S.C. § 379f

Title 21 — Food and Drugs

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73