Guidance

Responsibilities on those making legal use of drug precursor chemicals to document, record and label them

Published 10 June 2026

This page explains what organisations which are making legitimate use of drug precursor chemicals (DPCs) must do in terms of documenting, recording and labelling them.

Information on the requirements to apply for licences and registrations to use DPCs can be found here.

Information on notifying the National Crime Agency of suspicious activity relating to DPCs can be found here.

The list of DPCs in each Category can be found here.

Documentation

If you:

• supply a Category 1 DPC in the UK (even if you do not charge for it);
• store, manufacture, produce, process, trade, distribute or broker a Category 1 DPC in order to supply it in the UK;
• supply more than the specified annual quantity of a Category 2 DPC^{[footnote 1]} in the UK (even if you do not charge for it);
• store, manufacture, produce, process, trade, distribute or broker more than the specified annual quantity of a Category 2 DPC^{[footnote 2]} in order to supply it in the UK;
• import or export a Category 1, 2 or 3 DPC between Great Britain and either Northern Ireland or another country;
• import or export a Category 1, 2 or 3 DPC between Northern Ireland and either Great Britain or a country outside the EU; or
• carry out intermediary activities relating to import and export of a Category 1, 2 or 3 DPC (see definition below);

then you must properly document it by way of commercial and (where applicable) customs documents such as:

• invoices
• cargo manifests
• administrative documents
• summary declarations
• customs declarations
• transport and other shipping documents.

Those documents must contain:

• the name of the DPC
• if you are importing or exporting (including intermediary activities) one or more DPCs which are contained in a mixture or natural product (see definition below), you must show the names both of the DPC(s) and of the mixture/natural product. This must be followed by the term ‘DRUG PRECURSORS’
• the quantity and weight of the DPC, whether it is being traded on its own or as a part of a mixture or natural product
• where one or more DPCs is contained in a mixture, or in a natural product, for international trade the quantity and weight of the whole mixture or natural product must be shown. For domestic trade, they must be shown if they are available
• for domestic transactions, the percentage of the weight of the whole mixture or natural product which is the DPC(s) could be shown instead of the weight of the DPCs. For imports and exports, it must be shown if it is available
• the names and addresses of relevant parties. For domestic trade, those are the supplier, the distributor and the recipient of the DPC, and, if possible, other operators involved in the transaction. For international trade, they are the exporter, the importer, anyone involved in intermediary activities, and the recipient

For domestic transactions the document must also contain:

• an end user declaration
• and you must also keep detailed records of the transactions.

You must keep the documents and records for at least three years after 31 December of the year when the transaction happens. They should be available for inspection at any time by the police, National Crime Agency, Border Force, Drugs and Firearms Licensing Unit or His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. The documents can be kept in paper or electronic form.

If they are in electronic form they must:

• have equivalent appearance and content to the paper originals
• be capable of being made readable swiftly
• be capable of being analysed by automated means

Definitions

A ‘natural product’ is:

• an organism, or a part of one; or
• a naturally occurring substance which is unprocessed or processed only by manual, mechanical or gravitational means, by dissolution in water, by flotation, by extraction with water, by steam distillation or by heating solely to remove water, or which is extracted from air by any means

‘Intermediary activities’ are:

Any activity to arrange purchase and sale or supply of DPCs carried out by any natural or legal person who aims to obtain agreement between two parties or to do so through acting on behalf of at least one of these parties without taking these substances into its possession or taking control of the carrying out of such transaction. This includes any activity carried out by any natural or legal person established in the UK involving purchase and sale or supply of DPCs without those DPCs’ being introduced into the UK.

Labelling

If you are:

• supplying a Category 1 or 2 DPC within the UK
• exporting a Category 1, 2 or 3 DPC between Great Britain and either Northern Ireland or another country
• exporting a Category 1, 2 or 3 DPC or between Northern Ireland and either Great Britain or a country outside the EU

then you must, before it is supplied, label it to show the name of the DPC.

If you are exporting a mixture or a natural product which contains a Category 1, 2 or 3 DPC, you must label it with the names both of the mixture/natural product and of the DPC.

This does not prevent you also adding labels which are specific to your own organisation.

1. See this document for details. ↩

2. See this document for details. ↩