Chemical Mixtures; Temporary Waiver of Import/Export Requirements

On December 15, 2004, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) published a final rule that implemented regulations pertaining to chemical mixtures that contain any of 27 listed chemicals regulated under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.). That rulemaking became effective on January 14, 2005. Following publication of the final rule, certain segments of the chemical industry expressed concerns to DEA regarding difficulty in fully complying with DEA import/export notification requirements as specified in 21 CFR part 1313 by this deadline. Therefore, in order to avoid interruption of legitimate import/export distributions, DEA is providing a waiver of the import/export reporting requirements as specified in 21 CFR part 1313 until May 14, 2005. As such, regulated persons will temporarily not be required to submit advance notification for import, export and transshipment transactions for chemical mixtures regulated solely due to the presence of these 27 listed chemicals until May 14, 2005. This temporary waiver applies only to import, export and transshipment notification requirements; all other chemical control requirements set forth in the final rulemaking published on December 15, 2004, shall remain in full force and effect.