Exemption of law enforcement officials.

§ 1301.24 Exemption of law enforcement officials. (a) The requirement of registration is waived for the following persons in the circumstances described in this section: (1) Any officer or employee of the Administration, any customs officer, any officer or employee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and any other Federal or Insular officer who is lawfully engaged in the enforcement of any Federal law relating to controlled substances, drugs, or customs, and is duly authorized to possess or to import or export controlled substances in the course of his/her official duties; and (2) Any officer or employee of any State, or any political subdivision or agency thereof, who is engaged in the enforcement of any State or local law relating to controlled substances and is duly authorized to possess controlled substances in the course of his/her official duties. (b) Any official exempted by this section may, when acting in the course of his/her official duties, procure any controlled substance in the course of an inspection, or in the course of any criminal investigation involving the person from whom the substance was procured, and may possess any controlled substance and distribute any such substance to any other official who is also exempted by this section and acting in the course of his/her official duties. (c) In order to enable law enforcement agency laboratories, including laboratories of the Administration, to obtain and transfer controlled substances for use as standards in chemical analysis, such laboratories shall obtain annually a registration to conduct chemical analysis. Such laboratories shall be exempted from payment of a fee for registration. Laboratory personnel, when acting in the scope of their official duties, are deemed to be officials exempted by this section and within the activity described in section 515(d) of the Act (21 U.S.C. 885(d)). For purposes of this paragraph, laboratory activities shall not include field or other preliminary chemical tests by officials exempted by this section. (d) In addition to the activities authorized under a registration to conduct chemical analysis pursuant to § 1301.13(e)(1)(ix), laboratories of the Administration shall be authorized to manufacture or import controlled substances for any lawful purpose, to distribute or export such substances to any person, and to import and export such substances in emergencies without regard to the requirements of part 1312 of this chapter if a report concerning the importation or exportation is made to the Drug Operations Section of the Administration within 30 days of such importation or exportation. [62 FR 13951, Mar. 24, 1997, as amended at 81 FR 97019, Dec. 30, 2016; 87 FR 66955, Nov. 7, 2022]