Title 21 — Food and DrugsRelease 119-73
§827 Records and reports of registrants
Title 21 › Chapter CHAPTER 13— - DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION AND CONTROL › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - CONTROL AND ENFORCEMENT › Part Part C— - Registration of Manufacturers, Distributors, and Dispensers of Controlled Substances › § 827
Summary
People and businesses that make, sell, or give out controlled drugs must keep inventories and records and follow rules set by the Attorney General. They had to make an initial inventory on May 1, 1971 (or when they first started) and then every two years after that; they may use their regular physical inventory date if it is within six months of the biennial date. When a drug becomes controlled, anyone holding stock must record it. Registrants must keep up-to-date records of what they make, receive, sell, or dispose of (but they do not have to track every item forever). Records must follow Attorney General rules, be kept separately or be easily retrievable, and be kept for at least two years for inspection. Doctors’ prescriptions and some administrations of schedules II–V are usually exempt from these inventory rules unless used for maintenance or detoxification, or unless the practitioner regularly dispenses and charges for the drugs. Research done under certain approved rules and teaching or preclinical research at registered establishments are also exempt. The Attorney General can grant other exemptions by regulation. Manufacturers must report, on a schedule the Attorney General sets, all sales or other disposals of controlled drugs; distributors must report similar information for narcotics and identify the buyer by registration number. Internet pharmacies with a modified registration must report only the total quantity of each controlled drug they dispense each month, and only if in that month they filled 100 or more prescriptions or dispensed 5,000 or more dosage units in total. Manufacturers must also file reports and records needed for international treaty obligations. The Attorney General must provide, at least quarterly and no later than the 30th day after a quarter ends, automated data to manufacturers and distributors showing how many distributors serve each pharmacy or practitioner and the total types and amounts of opioids sent to each (by code number); registrants are expected to review that data and the Attorney General may consider that they had access to it when deciding enforcement actions. Rules for research drugs must include security and accountability steps. All registrants must report address changes as required. For any approved drug product containing gamma hydroxybutyric acid, the Attorney General may require detailed quarterly reports (due by the 15th day after the quarter), annual inventories (filed by January 15 for the prior year and showing stocks as of close of business December 31), transaction details, registration numbers for suppliers and customers, and detailed prescription records; mail-order reporting rules can apply the same way. All required reports must be provided in electronic form.
Full Legal Text
Title 21, §827
Food and Drugs — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Except as provided in subsection (c)—
(1)every registrant under this subchapter shall, on May 1, 1971, or as soon thereafter as such registrant first engages in the manufacture, distribution, or dispensing of controlled substances, and every second year thereafter, make a complete and accurate record of all stocks thereof on hand, except that the regulations prescribed under this section shall permit each such biennial inventory (following the initial inventory required by this paragraph) to be prepared on such registrant’s regular general physical inventory date (if any) which is nearest to and does not vary by more than six months from the biennial date that would otherwise apply;
(2)on the effective date of each regulation of the Attorney General controlling a substance that immediately prior to such date was not a controlled substance, each registrant under this subchapter manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing such substance shall make a complete and accurate record of all stocks thereof on hand; and
(3)on and after May 1, 1971, every registrant under this subchapter manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing a controlled substance or substances shall maintain, on a current basis, a complete and accurate record of each such substance manufactured, received, sold, delivered, or otherwise disposed of by him, except that this paragraph shall not require the maintenance of a perpetual inventory.
(b)Every inventory or other record required under this section (1) shall be in accordance with, and contain such relevant information as may be required by, regulations of the Attorney General, (2) shall (A) be maintained separately from all other records of the registrant, or (B) alternatively, in the case of nonnarcotic controlled substances, be in such form that information required by the Attorney General is readily retrievable from the ordinary business records of the registrant, and (3) shall be kept and be available, for at least two years, for inspection and copying by officers or employees of the United States authorized by the Attorney General.
(c)The foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply—
(1)(A)to the prescribing of controlled substances in schedule II, III, IV, or V by practitioners acting in the lawful course of their professional practice unless such substance is prescribed in the course of maintenance or detoxification treatment of an individual; or
(B)to the administering of a controlled substance in schedule II, III, IV, or V unless the practitioner regularly engages in the dispensing or administering of controlled substances and charges his patients, either separately or together with charges for other professional services, for substances so dispensed or administered or unless such substance is administered in the course of maintenance treatment or detoxification treatment of an individual;
(2)(A)to the use of controlled substances, at establishments registered under this subchapter which keep records with respect to such substances, in research conducted in conformity with an exemption granted under section 355(i) or 360b(j) of this title;
(B)to the use of controlled substances, at establishments registered under this subchapter which keep records with respect to such substances, in preclinical research or in teaching; or
(3)to the extent of any exemption granted to any person, with respect to all or part of such provisions, by the Attorney General by or pursuant to regulation on the basis of a finding that the application of such provisions (or part thereof) to such person is not necessary for carrying out the purposes of this subchapter.
(d)(1)Every manufacturer registered under section 823 of this title shall, at such time or times and in such form as the Attorney General may require, make periodic reports to the Attorney General of every sale, delivery or other disposal by him of any controlled substance, and each distributor shall make such reports with respect to narcotic controlled substances, identifying by the registration number assigned under this subchapter the person or establishment (unless exempt from registration under section 822(d) of this title) to whom such sale, delivery, or other disposal was made.
(2)Each pharmacy with a modified registration under section 823(g) of this title that authorizes the dispensing of controlled substances by means of the Internet shall report to the Attorney General the controlled substances it dispenses, in the amount specified, and in such time and manner as the Attorney General by regulation shall require, except that the Attorney General, under this paragraph, may not require any pharmacy to report any information other than the total quantity of each controlled substance that the pharmacy has dispensed each month. For purposes of this paragraph, no reporting shall be required unless the pharmacy has met 1 of the following thresholds in the month for which the reporting is required:
(A)100 or more prescriptions dispensed.
(B)5,000 or more dosage units of all controlled substances combined.
(e)In addition to the reporting and recordkeeping requirements under any other provision of this subchapter, each manufacturer registered under section 823 of this title shall, with respect to narcotic and nonnarcotic controlled substances manufactured by it, make such reports to the Attorney General, and maintain such records, as the Attorney General may require to enable the United States to meet its obligations under articles 19 and 20 of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and article 16 of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances. The Attorney General shall administer the requirements of this subsection in such a manner as to avoid the unnecessary imposition of duplicative requirements under this subchapter on manufacturers subject to the requirements of this subsection.
(f)(1)The Attorney General shall, not less frequently than quarterly, make the following information available to manufacturer and distributor registrants through the Automated Reports and Consolidated Orders System, or any subsequent automated system developed by the Drug Enforcement Administration to monitor selected controlled substances:
(A)The total number of distributor registrants that distribute controlled substances to a pharmacy or practitioner registrant, aggregated by the name and address of each pharmacy and practitioner registrant.
(B)The total quantity and type of opioids distributed, listed by Administration Controlled Substances Code Number, to each pharmacy and practitioner registrant described in subparagraph (A).
(2)The information required to be made available under paragraph (1) shall be made available not later than the 30th day of the first month following the quarter to which the information relates.
(3)(A)All registered manufacturers and distributors shall be responsible for reviewing the information made available by the Attorney General under this subsection.
(B)In determining whether to initiate proceedings under this subchapter against a registered manufacturer or distributor based on the failure of the registrant to maintain effective controls against diversion or otherwise comply with the requirements of this subchapter or the regulations issued thereunder, the Attorney General may take into account that the information made available under this subsection was available to the registrant.
(g)Regulations under section 355(i) and 360(j) of this title, relating to investigational use of drugs, shall include such procedures as the Secretary, after consultation with the Attorney General, determines are necessary to insure the security and accountability of controlled substances used in research to which such regulations apply.
(h)Every registrant under this subchapter shall be required to report any change of professional or business address in such manner as the Attorney General shall by regulation require.
(i)In the case of a drug product containing gamma hydroxybutyric acid for which an application has been approved under section 355 of this title, the Attorney General may, in addition to any other requirements that apply under this section with respect to such a drug product, establish any of the following as reporting requirements:
(1)That every person who is registered as a manufacturer of bulk or dosage form, as a packager, repackager, labeler, relabeler, or distributor shall report acquisition and distribution transactions quarterly, not later than the 15th day of the month succeeding the quarter for which the report is submitted, and annually report end-of-year inventories.
(2)That all annual inventory reports shall be filed no later than January 15 of the year following that for which the report is submitted and include data on the stocks of the drug product, drug substance, bulk drug, and dosage forms on hand as of the close of business December 31, indicating whether materials reported are in storage or in process of manufacturing.
(3)That every person who is registered as a manufacturer of bulk or dosage form shall report all manufacturing transactions both inventory increases, including purchases, transfers, and returns, and reductions from inventory, including sales, transfers, theft, destruction, and seizure, and shall provide data on material manufactured, manufactured from other material, use in manufacturing other material, and use in manufacturing dosage forms.
(4)That all reports under this section must include the registered person’s registration number as well as the registration numbers, names, and other identifying information of vendors, suppliers, and customers, sufficient to allow the Attorney General to track the receipt and distribution of the drug.
(5)That each dispensing practitioner shall maintain for each prescription the name of the prescribing practitioner, the prescribing practitioner’s Federal and State registration numbers, with the expiration dates of these registrations, verification that the prescribing practitioner possesses the appropriate registration to prescribe this controlled substance, the patient’s name and address, the name of the patient’s insurance provider and documentation by a medical practitioner licensed and registered to prescribe the drug of the patient’s medical need for the drug. Such information shall be available for inspection and copying by the Attorney General.
(6)That section 830(b)(3) of this title (relating to mail order reporting) applies with respect to gamma hydroxybutyric acid to the same extent and in the same manner as such section applies with respect to the chemicals and drug products specified in subparagraph (A)(i) of such section.
(j)All of the reports required under this section shall be provided in an electronic format.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
Schedules II, III, IV, and V, referred to in subsec. (c), are set out in section 812(c) of this title.
Amendments
2022—Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 117–215 substituted “823(g)” for “823(f)” in introductory provisions. 2018—Subsecs. (f) to (i). Pub. L. 115–271, § 3273(a)(1), (2), added subsec. (f) and redesignated former subsecs. (f) to (h) as (g) to (i), respectively. Subsec. (j). Pub. L. 115–271, § 3273(a)(3), added subsec. (j). 2008—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 110–425 designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2). 2000—Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 106–172 added subsec. (h). 1984—Subsec. (c)(1)(A). Pub. L. 98–473, § 514(a), substituted “to the prescribing of controlled substances in schedule II, III, IV, or V by practitioners acting in the lawful course of their professional practice unless such substance is prescribed in the course of maintenance or detoxification treatment of an individual” for “with respect to any narcotic controlled substance in schedule II, III, IV, or V, to the prescribing or administering of such substance by a practitioner in the lawful course of his professional practice unless such substance was prescribed or administered in the course of maintenance treatment or detoxification treatment of an individual”. Subsec. (c)(1)(B). Pub. L. 98–473, § 514(b), substituted “to the administering of a controlled substance in schedule II, III, IV, or V unless the practitioner regularly engages in the dispensing or administering of controlled substances and charges his patients, either separately or together with charges for other professional services, for substances so dispensed or administered or unless such substance is administered in the course of maintenance treatment or detoxification treatment of an individual” for “with respect to nonnarcotic controlled substances in schedule II, III, IV, or V, to any practitioner who dispenses such substances to his patients, unless the practitioner is regularly engaged in charging his patients, either separately or together with charges for other professional services, for substances so dispensed”. Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 98–473, § 515, added subsec. (g). 1978—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 95–633, § 110, inserted provision following par. (3) relating to the
Construction
of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Subsecs. (e), (f). Pub. L. 95–633 added subsec. (e) and redesignated former subsec. (e) as (f). 1974—Subsec. (c)(1)(A). Pub. L. 93–281 substituted “any narcotic controlled substance” for “narcotic controlled substances” and made section applicable to any narcotic controlled substance prescribed or administered in the course of maintenance treatment or detoxification treatment of an individual.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2008 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 110–425 effective 180 days after Oct. 15, 2008, except as otherwise provided, see section 3(j) of Pub. L. 110–425, set out as a note under section 802 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1978 AmendmentAmendment 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 section 704 of Pub. L. 91–513, set out as a note under section 801 of this title. Purpose Pub. L. 115–271, title III, § 3272, Oct. 24, 2018, 132 Stat. 3952, provided that: “(a) In General.—The purpose of this chapter [see section 3271 of Pub. L. 115–271, set out as a
Short Title
of 2018 Amendment note under section 801 of this title] is to provide drug manufacturers and distributors with access to anonymized information through the Automated Reports and Consolidated Orders System to help drug manufacturers and distributors identify, report, and stop suspicious orders of opioids and reduce diversion rates. “(b) Rule of
Construction
.—Nothing in this chapter should be construed to absolve a drug manufacturer, drug distributor, or other Drug
Enforcement
Administration registrant from the responsibility of the manufacturer, distributor, or other registrant to—“(1) identify, stop, and report suspicious orders; or “(2) maintain effective controls against diversion in accordance with section 303 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 823) or any successor law or associated regulation.”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
21 U.S.C. § 827
Title 21 — Food and Drugs
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73