Block, Report, and Suspend Suspicious Shipments Act

Subjects: Crime and Law Enforcement, Administrative law and regulatory procedures, Department of Justice, Drug trafficking and controlled substances, Prescription drugs, Retail and wholesale trades

Summary:  <p><b>Block, Report, And Suspend Suspicious Shipments Act </b></p> <p>This bill creates additional requirements for drug manufacturers and distributors who discover a suspicious order or series of suspicious orders for controlled substances.</p> <p>Currently, a manufacturer or distributor must report a suspicious order or series of suspicious orders to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). This bill also requires a manufacturer or distributor to exercise due diligence and decline to fill the order. However, if the manufacturer or distributor resolves all of the indicators giving rise to the suspicious order or series of suspicious orders, then the bill allows the manufacturer or distributor to fill the order and choose not to report it to the DEA.</p> <p>A violation is subject to civil and criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act.</p> <p>The DEA must issue regulations specifying the indicators that give rise to a suspicious order.</p>

<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 501 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 501

   To amend the Controlled Substances Act to require registrants to 
   decline to fill certain suspicious orders, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 25, 2023

    Mrs. Harshbarger (for herself and Mrs. Dingell) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
  Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Controlled Substances Act to require registrants to 
   decline to fill certain suspicious orders, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Block, Report, And Suspend 
Suspicious Shipments Act''.

SEC. 2. BLOCK, REPORT, AND SUSPEND SUSPICIOUS ORDERS.

    (a) Clarification of Process for Registrants To Exercise Due 
Diligence Upon Discovering a Suspicious Order.--Paragraph (3) of 
section 312(a) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 832(a)) is 
amended to read as follows:
            ``(3) upon discovering a suspicious order or series of 
        orders, and in a manner consistent with the other requirements 
        of this section--
                    ``(A) exercise due diligence as appropriate;
                    ``(B) establish and maintain (for not less than a 
                period to be determined by the Administrator of the 
                Drug Enforcement Administration) a record of the due 
                diligence that was performed;
                    ``(C) decline to fill the order or series of orders 
                if the due diligence fails to dispel all of the 
                indicators that give rise to the suspicion that, if the 
                order or series of orders is filled, the drugs that are 
                the subject of the order or series of orders are likely 
                to be diverted; and
                    ``(D) notify the Administrator of the Drug 
                Enforcement Administration and the Special Agent in 
                Charge of the Division Office of the Drug Enforcement 
                Administration for the area in which the registrant is 
                located or conducts business of--
                            ``(i) each suspicious order or series of 
                        orders discovered by the registrant; and
                            ``(ii) the indicators giving rise to the 
                        suspicion that, if the order or series of 
                        orders is filled, the drugs that are the 
                        subject of the order or series of orders are 
                        likely to be diverted.''.
    (b) Resolution of Suspicious Indicators.--Section 312 of the 
Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 832) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as subsections 
        (c) and (d), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
    ``(b) Resolution of Suspicious Indicators.--If a registrant 
resolves all of the indicators giving rise to suspicion about an order 
or series of orders under subsection (a)(3)--
            ``(1) notwithstanding subsection (a)(3)(C), the registrant 
        may choose to fill the order or series of orders; and
            ``(2) notwithstanding subsection (a)(3)(D), the registrant 
        may choose not to make the notification otherwise required by 
        such subsection.''.
    (c) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, for purposes of subsections (a)(3) and (b) of section 312 
of the Controlled Substances Act, as amended or inserted by subsection 
(a), the Attorney General of the United States shall promulgate a final 
regulation specifying the indicators that give rise to a suspicion 
that, if an order or series of orders is filled, the drugs that are the 
subject of the order or series of orders are likely to be diverted.
    (d) Penalty.--Section 402(a)(5) of the Controlled Substances Act 
(21 U.S.C. 842(a)(5)) is amended by inserting before the semicolon at 
the end the following: ``or otherwise violates section 312(a)(3)''.
    (e) Applicability.--Subsections (a)(3) and (b) of section 312 of 
the Controlled Substances Act, as amended or inserted by subsection 
(a), shall apply beginning on the day that is 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act. Until such day, section 312(a)(3) of the 
Controlled Substances Act shall apply as such section 312(a)(3) was in 
effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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