MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2019 Regular Session

To: Public Health and Human Services

By: Representative Bounds

House Bill 611

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 41-3-18, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE EXEMPTION FOR INSPECTIONS BY THE MISSISSIPPI STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH FOR PERSONS MEETING CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS AND SELLING LESS THAN A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF HONEY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

     BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

     SECTION 1.  Section 41-3-18, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     41-3-18.  (1)  The board shall assess fees in the following amounts and for the following purposes:

          (a)  Food establishment annual permit fee, based on the assessment factors of the establishment as follows:

Assessment Category 1................................... $ 30.00

Assessment Category 2................................... 100.00

Assessment Category 3................................... 150.00

Assessment Category 4................................... 200.00

(b)  Private water supply approval fee........ $ 10.00

     The board may develop such reasonable standards, rules and regulations to clearly define each assessment category.  Assessment categories shall be based upon the factors to the public health implications of the category and type of food preparation being utilized by the food establishment, utilizing the model Food Code of 1995, or as may be amended by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

     Any increase in the fees charged by the board under this subsection shall be in accordance with the provisions of Section 41-3-65.

     (2)  The fee authorized under subsection (1)(a) of this section shall not be assessed for:

          (a)  Food establishments operated by public schools, public junior and community colleges, or state agencies or institutions, including, without limitation, the state institutions of higher learning and the State Penitentiary; and

          (b)  Persons who * * *make infrequent casual sales of honey and who pack or sell less than five hundred (500) gallons of honey per year, and those persons shall not be inspected by the State Department of Health unless requested by the producer. produce, bottle and sell, whether retail or wholesale, less than five hundred (500) gallons of honey per year.  These persons shall not be inspected, unless they request to be inspected, if they meet the following requirements:

(i)  The honey must be produced in the State of Mississippi;

(ii)  The honey must be produced by the person seeking exemption; and

(iii)  The honey must be pure and unadulterated.

Honey bottled under this exemption and sold for resale must be labeled on the container with the following statement:  "Packaged in a facility that has not been inspected by the Mississippi State Department of Health."

     (3)  The fee authorized under subsection (1)(b) of this section shall not be assessed for private water supplies used by foster homes licensed by the Department of Human Services.

     SECTION 2.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.

---