Drug Enforcement Administration August 11, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposes changes in the regulation of the listed chemical iodine pursuant to the chemical regulatory provisions of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) believes that this action is necessary in order to remove deficiencies in the current regulatory controls, which are being exploited by drug traffickers who divert iodine (in the form of iodine crystals and iodine tincture) for the illicit production of methamphetamine in clandestine drug laboratories. This NPRM proposes (1) the movement of iodine from List II to List I; (2) a reduction in the iodine threshold from 0.4 kilograms to zero kilograms; (3) the addition of import and export regulatory controls; and (4) the control of chemical mixtures containing greater than 2.2 percent iodine. This NPRM proposes regulatory controls that will apply to iodine crystals and iodine chemical mixtures that contain greater than 2.2 percent iodine. This regulation will therefore control iodine crystals and strong iodine tinctures/solutions (e.g., 7 percent iodine) that do not have common household uses and instead have limited application in livestock, horses and for disinfection of equipment. Household products such as 2 percent iodine tincture/solution and household disinfectants containing iodine complexes will not be adversely impacted by this regulation. If finalized as proposed, persons conducting regulated transactions involving iodine would need to be registered with the DEA, would be subject to import/export notification requirements of the CSA, and would be required to maintain records of all regulated transactions involving iodine regardless of size.