Senate Bill 2802

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 75-33-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT POULTRY PRODUCERS ARE EXEMPT FROM CERTAIN STATE REGULATIONS IF THE POULTRY PRODUCERS QUALIFY FOR EXEMPTION UNDER THE FEDERAL POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT; TO AMEND SECTION 75-33-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE SHALL NOT ADOPT REGULATIONS RELATED TO EXEMPTIONS UNDER THE POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT WHICH ARE MORE STRINGENT THAN FEDERAL REGULATIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 75-33-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-33-3. (1) For the purpose of this article, the words and terms used herein shall have ascribed to them the following meanings:

(a) The word "person" shall include individuals, partnerships, corporations, associations, and any other legal entity recognized by law.

(b) The terms "meat" and "meat-food products" whenever used in this article, shall include the carcasses or parts thereof, of cattle, sheep, goats, other ruminants, including exotic animals, swine, horses, mules, rabbits, poultry and ratites and the meat and meat-food products of such animals.

(c) The term "food unfit for human consumption" shall be construed to include the meat and meat-food products of horses and mules and all meats or meat-food products which are so affected with disease that it would be dangerous to use the meat or other parts for human food; also, all meats or meat-food products which are contaminated, putrid, unsound, unhealthful, or otherwise unfit for food, or which have been derived from any animal which has died as a result of disease or accident, or which was in a dying condition at the time of slaughter.

(d) The word "establishment" as used in this article, shall include: (i) any building or structure in which slaughtering, butchering, meat processing, meat canning, meat packing, meat manufacturing or rendering is carried on; and (ii) the ground upon which such building or structure is erected, and so much ground adjacent thereto as is used in carrying on the business of such establishment, including drains, gutters, waste disposal and cesspools used in connection with the establishment.

(e) The word "equipment" as used in this article, shall include all machinery, fixtures, containers, vessels, tools, implements and apparatus used in and about an establishment.

(f) The word "commissioner" as used in this article, shall mean the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, or his duly authorized deputies.

(g) The word "ratite" means a member of a group of large flightless birds including the ostrich, rhea and emu.

(h) The words "exotic animal" mean a member of a species of game not indigenous to this state, including axis deer, fallow deer, red deer or other cloven-hooved ruminant animals and ratites.

(2) All persons engaged in business as a meat broker, jobber, dealer, distributor, peddler, transporter, or wholesaler of any carcasses of meat animals or poultry or parts or products thereof, whether fresh, frozen, cured or otherwise and whether canned, wrapped, packaged or prepackaged, but not otherwise handled, whether intended for human food or other purposes, or any person engaged in the business as a public warehouseman storing any such items or products shall register with the commissioner on forms provided and shall operate under the applicable inspection authority provided in this article and by the Mississippi Meat Inspection Act of 1968 [Chapter 35 of Title 75], provided persons operating the aforementioned nonslaughter and nonprocessing businesses are exempt from the license and fee specified in Section 75-33-7.

(3) The slaughtering by any person of animals and poultry of his own raising, and the processing and transportation by him of animals and poultry products exclusively for use by him and members of his household and his nonpaying guests and employees, shall be exempt from the provisions of this article. Any other operations of an unlicensed, unapproved slaughterhouse and/or processing facility to escape the provisions of this article shall be unlawful, and any person found guilty of such violation shall be punished as provided in Section 75-33-37.

(4) The provisions of this article shall not apply to poultry producers with respect to poultry of their own raising on their own farms on the same basis as now provided in the United States Wholesome Poultry Products Act and regulations thereunder, and such exemptions shall be consistent with said act and regulations. However, the adulteration and misbranding provisions of said act, other than the requirement of the inspection legend, shall apply to articles which are exempt from inspection by said act and regulations.

(5) The provisions of this article shall not apply to poultry producers who qualify for an exemption from inspection requirements of the Poultry Products Inspection Act and regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

SECTION 2. Section 75-33-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

75-33-5. (1) The commissioner may adopt, amend or repeal rules and regulations for the administration and enforcement of this article.

(2) The commissioner shall not promulgate any rules and regulations which are inconsistent with the rules and regulations of the United States Department of Agriculture governing the businesses covered by this article.

(3) The commissioner shall not promulgate any rules and regulations for exemptions of poultry producers which are more stringent than federal regulations promulgated under the Poultry Products Inspection Act.

(4) Every licensee shall be furnished a copy of such rules and regulations when a license is issued. The commissioner shall prescribe and supply the forms to be used to comply with this article.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.