Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection 

Service 

Animal Care 

Fort Collins Office 

2150 Centre Avenue 

Building B, 3W11 

Fort Collins, CO 80526 

Phone: 970-494-7478 

RE: ANNUAL REPORT REMINDER 

Fiscal Year: 2022

 

September 15, 2022

Dear Registrant: 

Animal Welfare Act regulations require all research registrants to file an Annual Report of Research 

Facility (APHIS Form 7023 and 7023A) with the Animal Care Regional Office documenting their 

activities and animal usage for that fiscal year (October 1 through September 30). These reports are 

due by December 1 of each year. Even if you did not use or hold any animals during the fiscal year, 

you still need to complete and submit an Annual Report. Likewise, registrants whose registrations 

were canceled or terminated during the fiscal year must complete and submit an Annual Report. 

Failure to do so constitutes a violation of the Animal Welfare Act regulations. 

Annual Reports are now submitted using our online reporting system. More information on submitting 

Annual Reports online could be found via the following link: 

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalwelfare/SA_Obtain_Research_Facility_Annual_Re

port

 

Please fill out all applicable fields, including the signature of an authorized individual determined by 

the facility. Also, please make sure that you have properly verified each total in Column F. 

 

After you complete the form(s), please make a copy for your records. Detailed instructions are 

provided in the enclosed Annual Report Checklist. 

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. We appreciate your efforts in adhering to the 

Animal Welfare Act regulations. 

If you have any questions, please contact us at 970-494-7477. 

Sincerely, 

Elizabeth Goldentyer, D.V.M. 

Deputy Administrator 

USDA, APHIS, Animal Care 
 An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer

Announcement

Discontinuation of Allowances to Delay Semi-annual 

Inspections of Research Facilities due to COVID-19

APHIS-Animal Care wishes to inform all research facilities that as of October 1, 

2022, we will no longer make allowances for IACUCs to delay their semi-annual 

inspections due to COVID-19. This was a provision we made early in the pandemic 

as we worked to balance the need to ensure human health and safety with our 

commitment to supporting the proper care and welfare of the animals regulated 

under the Animal Welfare Act. Therefore, effective October 1, 2022, all 

institutions using live animals for research, testing, experimentation or teaching,

as described in 9 CFR § 2.30, will be expected to inspect, at least every 6 months, 

all of the research facility’s animal facilities, including animal study areas, as per 9 

CFR § 2.31(c). This change is in keeping with NIH-OLAW’s decision to discontinue

the issuance of waivers to temporarily suspend or delay such semi-annual

inspections at Assured institutions that goes into effect on the same date (see 

Guide Notice NOT-OD-22-207). Note that all other flexibilities we implemented 

for semi-annual inspections/reports during the COVID-19 pandemic remain in 

place. 

Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection

Service

Animal Care

Fort Collins Office

2150 Centre Avenue

Building B, 3W11

Fort Collins, CO

80526

Phone: 970-494-7478
Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Report Instructions 

Completing the APHIS Form 7023

Annual Reports are now to be completed and submitted electronically. 

The portal will be opened on October 1st and close on December 31st. 

Top Right- Fiscal year

• Enter the Fiscal Year you are reporting for 

Block 1- Registration Number

• Write in the facility’s registration number, also known as certificate number.

Block 2- Headquarters Research Facility

• Complete this Block with the mailing (or headquarters) information of the facility.

• Include the Name of the facility, mailing address with city, state and zip code.

• Include the main telephone number for the facility.

• P.O. Boxes are acceptable for a mailing address.

Block 3- Reporting Facility/ Facility Locations 

• List all facility locations, with addresses, of where animals are being used or held.

• Include any phone numbers if different from the headquarters phone number.

• If more than two facilities need to be listed use separate sheet.

• P.O. Boxes are not acceptable as addresses for facility site locations.

Blocks 4 through 13- Animal Usage Report

• Column A- Animal’s Covered by the Animal Welfare Regulations.

o List all regulated animals by common name.

o Wild/Exotic Rodents should be listed on this form.

o Do Not list any numbers under column A.

o Do Not report the use of laboratory rats and mice bred for research.

o Do not report Birds, reptiles, fish, or any animals not regulated by the Animal 

Welfare Act.

o List out each farm and other animals (Blocks 12 and 13) not listed on this form.
o If more animals are needed to be listed, please use the APHIS 7023AContinuation Form.

o If you are unsure if an animal should be listed, please contact the office at 970-

494-7477.

• Column B- Animals bred, held, conditioned but not used for regulated purposes.

o Enter in the total number of each animal that was held, bred, or conditioned for 

use in teaching, testing experiments, research, or surgery but not yet used for such 

purposes.

o Include animals used in prior years but not during the reporting year.

o Include animals used for breeding and their offspring, even if they were not used 

for reporting this year.

o This column does not get included in the total number of animals listed under 

Column F.

• Column C- Animals used but had no distress or the use of pain-relieving drugs.

o Enter in the total number of each animal that was used for regulated purposes and 

had no distress/pain or had the use of pain-relieving drugs.

o Routine procedures (e.g.: Injections, tattooing, blood sampling) should be 

reported in this column.

o Do Not use animals used in clinical trials in the context of veterinary-client 

relationship or do not include any animals in a field study.

• Column D- Animals used for regulated purposes that involved momentary pain or 

distress.

o Enter in the total of each animal that was experienced a momentary pain or 

distress that was alleviated with anesthetic, analgesics, or tranquilizers.

• Column E- Animals upon which regulated activity accompanied pain or distress and any 

pain-relieving drug would have affected the activity.

o Enter in the total number of each animal that was used for teaching, experiments

research, surgery, or tests

o The activity conducted involving accompanying pain or distress to the animal.

o The use of appropriate anesthetic, analgesic, or tranquilizing drugs would have 

adversely affected the procedures, results, or interpretation of the teaching, 

research, experiments, surgery, or tests.

o An explanation of each animal procedure must be included with this report, see 

the Column E and Exemption FAQ for additional guidance.
• Column F- Total Number of Animals

o Total each number of animals listed under Column C, D, and E.

o Do not include animals listed under column B.

Certification by Headquarters Research Facility Official

• Any authorized person that was delegated by a high-ranking official can sign the form.

• This can include but not limited to; CEO, COO, President, Vice President, Institutional 

Official, or Attending Veterinarian.

• By signing the form, the facility is confirming the information provided on this form and 

included is true and accurate per the Animal Welfare Act and Regulations.

• If you have any questions regarding this form or any information required to be included, 

please contact the office at 970-494-7477.

Annual Report Do’s and Do Not’s

• DO submit only one Annual Report per registered facility. All site locations should be 

consolidated into one annual report.

• DO include a list of all authorized personnel for the registered facility. (Including the Authorized 

person who signs the report) This is to ensure that our contact information stays up to date.

• DO NOT leave the form blank, if submitting all zero’s please include those on the form.

• DO NOT report on any animals that are not regulated by the Animal Welfare Act.
Tips for Categorizing Animals

• Please refer to the column headings on the Form 7023 and 9 C.F.R. § 2.36 for 

information on each pain category. 

• Useful guidance for Column E categories is also available in chapter 7 of the Animal 

Welfare Inspection Guide in sections 7.5.3 (Annual Report) and 7.2.4.1 

(Painful/Distressful Procedures). 

• Help is also available at (970) 494-7477. 

• Animals used for research, testing, teaching, or experiments at any time during the 

reporting year must be reported in Column C, D or E, as appropriate, whether or not they 

are still being held at the facility. 

• For any animals that have been used and transferred to another facility during the fiscal 

year, the facility that used the animals in the highest pain category is required to report 

the animals according to the pain category of the work performed at that facility on their 

annual report.

• Animals used in more than one protocol should be counted only once, in the most 

painful/distressful category.

• COLUMN B- include animals involved in husbandry, veterinary care, or colony 

management procedures not listed in any pain categories. 

• Please note that euthanasia performed as per the definition of euthanasia under section 

1.1 Animal Welfare Act regulations is not considered painful or distressful.

• Euthanasia should not be categorized in terms of pain categories unless the method of 

destruction deviates from the criteria listed above for scientific reasons.