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Select Agents
Select Agent Legislation
The
Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act was passed in 1996 and
built upon the Biological Weapons Anti-terrorism Act (1989) and other
earlier anti-terrorism legislation. This legislation directed the
Department of Health and Human Services to develop and maintain a list
of biological agents that could pose a threat to the public health and
to regulate the transfer of such agents while maintaining the
availability of these agents for research, education, and other
legitimate purposes. In response to this legislation, the Center for
Disease Control (CDC) developed a list of 31 infectious agents and 12
biological toxins with additional provisions for recombinant organisms
and drug resistant organisms and exemptions for research quantities and
vaccine strains of organisms.
On March 18, 2005 the
Department of Health and Human Services published 42 CFR Parts 72 and
73 Possession, Use, and Transfer of Select Agents and Toxins; Final
Rule which goes into effect April 18, 2005. The final rule implements
provisions of the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness
and Response Act of 2002 and is designed to protect public health and
safety.
All facilities possessing select agents or wishing
to
ship or receive select agents must be registered with the federal
government. All University of Minnesota researchers working with or
storing select agents must be included on the University's Certificate
of Registration with the CDC and must follow all applicable federal
regulations and University policies. Prior approval and training is
required to use, store, ship, or receive a select agent. Please follow
the instructions provided in this section and contact the biosafety
officer in Environmental Health & Safety (612- 626-6002) for
additional questions and information.
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