May a detained article of food be delivered to another entity or transferred to another location?
21 C.F.R. § 1.381
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a) An article of food subject to a detention order under this subpart may not be delivered under the execution of a bond. Notwithstanding section 801(b) of the act (21 U.S.C. 381(b)), while any article of food is subject to a detention order under section 304(h) of the act (21 U.S.C. 334(h)), it may not be delivered to any of its importers, owners, or consignees. This section does not preclude movement at FDA's direction of imported food to a secure facility under an appropriate Customs' bond when that bond is required by Customs' law and regulation.
(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, no person may transfer a detained article of food within or from the place where it has been ordered detained, or from the place to which it was removed, until an authorized FDA representative releases the article of food under § 1.384 or the detention period expires under § 1.379, whichever occurs first.
(c) The authorized FDA representative may approve, in writing, a request to modify a detention order to permit movement of a detained article of food for any of the following purposes:
(1) To destroy the article of food,
(2) To move the detained article of food to a secure facility under the terms of a detention order,
(3) To maintain or preserve the integrity or quality of the article of food, or
(4) For any other purpose that the authorized FDA representative believes is appropriate in the case.
(d) You must submit your request for modification of the detention order in writing to the authorized FDA representative who approved the detention order. You must state in your request the reasons for movement; the exact address of and location in the new facility (or the new location within the same facility) where the detained article of food will be transferred; an explanation of how the new address and location will be secure, if FDA has directed that the article be detained in a secure facility; and how the article will be held under any applicable conditions described in the detention order. If you are requesting modification of a detention order for the purpose of destroying the detained article of food, you also must submit a verified statement identifying the ownership or proprietary interest you have in the detained article of food, in accordance with Supplemental Rule C to the “Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.”
(e) If FDA approves a request for modification of a detention order, the article may be transferred but remains under detention before, during, and after the transfer. FDA will state any conditions of transportation applicable to the detained article. You may not transfer a detained article of food without FDA supervision unless FDA has declined in writing to supervise the transfer. If FDA has declined in writing to supervise the transfer of a detained article, you must immediately notify in writing the authorized FDA representative who approved the modification of the detention order that the article of food has reached its new location, and the specific location of the detained article within the new location. Such written notification may be in the form of a fax, e-mail, or other form as agreed to by the authorized FDA representative.
(f) You must ensure that any required tags or labels under § 1.382 accompany the detained article during and after movement. The tags or labels must remain with the article of food until FDA terminates the detention order or the detention period expires, whichever occurs first, unless otherwise permitted by the authorized FDA representative who approves the modification of a detention order under this section.
(g) The transfer of an article of food in violation of a detention order issued under § 1.393 is a prohibited act under section 301 of the act.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-21.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026