Application for Permit to Import Controlled Substances for Domestic and/or Scientific Purposes Pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 952

Drug Enforcement Administration Online
Import/Export Application (IMEX
Online)
Introduction

The purpose of this document is to provide the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) an overview of
the suite of applications making up the DEA Online Import/Export Application (IMEX Online).
Screenshots demonstrating application flow and data collected in the following sections.

General Overview
IMEX Online applications follow the same general workflow:
•
•
•

•

•

•
•
•
•

Application Launch—Select which IMEX Online application to complete. The choice is restricted
according to the user’s permissions.
Instructions—the user is notified of any special requirements affecting the submission of data
(for example, some forms must be submitted at least 15 days in advance of import/export).
Foreign Entity definition—Define what organization will be sending or receiving the substances.
IMEX Online will store previously entered foreign entities for use in future transactions and
display them in a selectable list, eliminating the need to re-enter the information.
Import/Export Material—Define what material(s) are being imported or exported. Much of the
data in this section is generated automatically by the system—for example, a user may only
select to import or export material for which they are authorized. That selection populates
other fields in the form, such as the substance’s concentration, its available salts, and other
data. Some applications also require data regarding the distribution of the chemical after
import/export.
Broker/Forwarding Agent Data—Not applicable to some IMEX Online applications. Identify any
third-parties that will assist in the import/export of the material. New brokers or forwarding
agents may be entered; previously entered brokers and forwarding agents will be retained by
the system for future use.
Purpose—Some IMEX Online applications require users to declare that the material is being
imported/exported for medical, scientific, or other legitimate usage.
Shipping Information—Enter information about where, when, and by what means the material
will be transported.
Information verification—Users are given the opportunity to review the information they’ve
entered and change it if necessary.
Confirmation and Tracking ID—Users are given a tracking ID number for reference when
communicating with DEA about the shipment.

Add Substances Overview and Diagram
The following figure shows the user-required inputs and the system generated fields for one of the most
critical pages in the application: Add Substances. While not all add substances pages in IMEX Online will
appear precisely as the example shown below, they share the major characteristics.

This is provided to show the applications’ ability to minimize user burden through on-the-fly calculation
and through data references/data dependencies.