Each licensee, permittee, and foreign manufacturer of biological products imported into the United States shall maintain, at the licensed or foreign establishment in which the products are prepared, detailed records of information necessary to give a complete accounting of all the activities within each establishment. Such records shall include, but shall not be limited to, the items enumerated in this part.

Records shall be made concurrently with the performance of successive steps in the development and preparation of biological products, including new products under development. Such records shall include the date and where critical, the time that each essential step was taken, the identity and quantity of ingredients added or removed at each step, and any gain or loss of product from the beginning to the end of product preparation.

Records shall be legible and indelible; shall be as detailed as necessary for a clear understanding of each step by one experienced in the preparation of biological products; and shall be verified by initials or signature of the person immediately responsible for the action taken.

Records (other than disposition records and adverse event records) required by this part must be completed by the licensee, permittee, or foreign manufacturer, as the case may be, before any portion of a serial of any product may be marketed in the United States or exported.

In the case of imported products, each permittee shall maintain at the permittee's place of business detailed and accurate records that are relevant to each imported product and that include, but are not limited to, importation documents, sampling records, test summaries, shipping records, and inventory and disposition records as required in § 116.2.

When authorized by the Administrator, the licensee, permittee, or foreign manufacturer may maintain and retain records required under this part at an alternative location. Such authorization shall be confirmed by the filing of an addendum to the plot plan legend. The addendum shall list the location of the records and the condition of their storage and shall permit the inspection of the records by APHIS inspectors, or foreign inspectors acting on behalf of APHIS.