(a) Accreditation and approval under this part require that, in each intercountry adoption case, an accredited agency or an approved person will be identified and act as the primary provider. If one accredited agency or approved person is providing all adoption services by itself, it must act as the primary provider. If just one accredited agency or approved person is involved in providing adoption services, the sole accredited agency or approved person must act as the primary provider. If adoption services in the intercountry adoption case are being provided by more than one accredited agency or approved person, the agency or person that has child placement responsibility, as evidenced by the following, must act as the primary provider throughout the case:

(1) Entering into placement contracts with prospective adoptive parent(s) to provide child referral and placement;

(2) Accepting custody from a birth parent or other legal custodian in a foreign country for the purpose of placement for adoption;

(3) Assuming responsibility for liaison with a foreign country's Central Authority or its designees with regard to arranging an adoption; or

(4) Receiving from or sending to a foreign country information about a child that is under consideration for adoption, unless acting as a local service provider that conveys such information to parent(s) on behalf of the primary provider.

(b) Pursuant to §96.44, in the case of accredited agencies or approved persons, the primary provider may only use the following to provide adoption services in the United States:

(1) A supervised provider, including an accredited agency or approved person;

(2) An exempted provider, if the exempted provider's home study or child background study will be reviewed and approved by an accredited agency pursuant to §96.47(c) or §96.53(b); or

(3) A public domestic authority.

(c) Pursuant to §96.44 of subpart F, in the case of accredited agencies or approved persons, the primary provider may only use the following to provide adoption services in a foreign country:

(1) A Central Authority, competent authority, or a public foreign authority;

(2) A foreign supervised provider, including a provider accredited by the foreign country; or

(3) A foreign provider (agency, person, or other non-governmental entity) who

(i) Has secured or is securing the necessary consent to termination of parental rights and to adoption, if the primary provider verifies consent pursuant to §96.46(c); or

(ii) Has prepared or is preparing a background study on a child in a case involving immigration to the United States (incoming case) or a home study on prospective adoptive parent(s) in a case involving emigration from the United States (outgoing case), and a report on the results of such a study, if the primary provider verifies the study and report pursuant to §96.46(c).

(d) The primary provider is not required to provide supervision or to assume responsibility for:

(1) Public domestic authorities; or

(2) Central Authorities, competent authorities, and public foreign authorities.

(e) The primary provider must adhere to the standards contained in §96.45 (Using supervised providers in the United States) when using supervised providers in the United States and the applicable standards contained in §96.46 (Using providers in foreign countries) when using providers outside the United States.

[71 FR 8131, Feb. 15, 2006, as amended at 79 FR 40633, July 14, 2014; 80 FR 7323, Feb. 10, 2015]