General. If you perform any step in the manufacture of an HCT/P in which you handle the HCT/P, you must track each such HCT/P in accordance with this section, to facilitate the investigation of actual or suspected transmission of communicable disease and take appropriate and timely corrective action.

System of HCT/P tracking. (1) You must establish and maintain a system of HCT/P tracking that enables the tracking of all HCT/Ps from:

The donor to the consignee or final disposition; and

The consignee or final disposition to the donor.

Alternatively, if you are an establishment that performs some but not all of the steps in the manufacture of an HCT/P in which you handle the HCT/P, you may participate in a system of HCT/P tracking established and maintained by another establishment responsible for other steps in the manufacture of the same HCT/P, provided that the tracking system complies with all the requirements of this section.

Distinct identification code. As part of your tracking system, you must ensure: That each HCT/P that you manufacture is assigned and labeled with a distinct identification code, e.g., alphanumeric, that relates the HCT/P to the donor and to all records pertaining to the HCT/P; and that labeling includes information designed to facilitate effective tracking, using the distinct identification code, from the donor to the recipient and from the recipient to the donor. Except as described in § 1271.55(a)(1), you must create such a code specifically for tracking, and it may not include an individual's name, social security number, or medical record number. You may adopt a distinct identification code assigned by another establishment engaged in the manufacturing process, or you may assign a new code. If you assign a new code to an HCT/P, you must establish and maintain procedures for relating the new code to the old code.

Tracking from consignee to donor. As part of your tracking system, you must establish and maintain a method for recording the distinct identification code and type of each HCT/P distributed to a consignee to enable tracking from the consignee to the donor.

Tracking from donor to consignee or final disposition. As part of your tracking system, you must establish and maintain a method for documenting the disposition of each of your HCT/Ps, to enable tracking from the donor to the consignee or final disposition. The information you maintain must permit the prompt identification of the consignee of the HCT/P, if any.

Consignees. At or before the time of distribution of an HCT/P to a consignee, you must inform the consignee in writing of the requirements in this section and of the tracking system that you have established and are maintaining to comply with these requirements.

Requirements specific to dura mater donors. You must archive appropriate specimens from each donor of dura mater, under appropriate storage conditions, and for the appropriate duration, to enable testing of the archived material for evidence of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, and to enable appropriate disposition of any affected nonadministered dura mater tissue, if necessary.