MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2020 Regular Session
To: Marine Resources
By: Representative Ladner
AN ACT TO CREATE THE "MISSISSIPPI SEAFOOD LABEL LAW;" TO PROVIDE DEFINITIONS; TO PROVIDE THAT NO PERSON, FIRM OR CORPORATION SHALL PRODUCE, HARVEST, PROVIDE, PURCHASE, SELL, OFFER, POSSESS OR EXPOSE FOR SALE, OR HAVE IN POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO SELL WITHIN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, ANY SEAFOOD OR SEAFOOD PRODUCTS THAT ARE MISBRANDED OR UNLABELED; TO PROVIDE THE CONTENT TO BE INCLUDED ON EACH LABEL FOR WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTORS, TRANSPORTERS, RETAIL DEALERS AND RESTAURANTS; TO AMEND SECTION 69-1-55, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. The provisions of this act shall be known and may be cited as the "Mississippi Seafood Label Law."
SECTION 2. The following words and phrases shall have the meanings as defined in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) "Certification number" means a unique combination of letters and numbers assigned to a certified seafood processor.
(b) "Distributor" means any person offering for sale, exchange or barter any seafood or seafood product destined for direct retail sale.
(c) "Farm raised" means seafood or seafood product that is hatched or raised or harvested in controlled pens that exist within lakes, oceans or rivers or within tanks or containers.
(d) "Imported product" means seafood or seafood product whether farm raised or wild caught, that is harvested from or originates from outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
(e) "Label" means a display of written, printed or graphic matter used to describe the product, which may or may not be upon or affixed to the container in which a seafood or seafood product is offered for direct retail sale.
(f) "Person" includes any individual, partnership, corporation, firm, association or other legal entity.
(g) "Processing" means, with respect to seafood or seafood products, handling, storing, preparing, heading, eviscerating, shucking, freezing, changing into different market forms, manufacturing, preserving, packing, labeling, holding or as otherwise specified in law.
(h) "Processor" means any person engaged in commercial, custom or institutional processing of seafood or seafood products, either in the United States or in a foreign country, and includes any person engaged in the production of foods that are destined for direct retail sale.
(i) "Restaurant" means a facility that prepares and sells food directly to consumers for immediate consumption.
(j) "Retail dealer" means a marketplace for selling seafood or seafood products to consumers.
(k) "Seafood" or "seafood products" means all oysters, saltwater fish, saltwater shrimp, diamondback terrapin, sea turtles, crabs and all other species of marine or saltwater animal life existing or living in the marine waters.
(l) "Seafood dealer" means any person, firm or corporation operating as a wholesale dealer, retail dealer or processor of seafood or seafood products.
(m) "Transportation" means both intrastate and interstate movement of seafood or seafood products by any means.
(n) "Wholesale" means a person who operates a place of business for selling, offering for sale, canning, preserving, processing or handling for shipments or sale of seafood or seafood products to retail or seafood dealers, hotels, restaurants, cafes, consumers or other wholesale or seafood dealers. The term "wholesale" does not include the holder of a live bait or menhaden license.
(o) "Wild-caught" means seafood or seafood products that have been caught in their natural habitats.
SECTION 3. (1) It shall be unlawful for any person to produce, harvest, provide, purchase, sell, offer, possess or expose for sale, or have in possession with intent to sell within the State of Mississippi, any seafood or seafood products that are misbranded or unlabeled as provided in Section 75-29-11.
(2) All seafood and seafood products shall be labeled as domestic wild caught, domestic farm-raised or imported.
(3) All seafood or seafood products shall originate from a certified processor or licensed seafood dealer and shall be labeled in such a way that is clearly visible to persons, affixed to the packaging in such a way that can not be removed, and in a font and size large enough for a reasonable person to be able to see and read. The labels shall contain the following information:
(a) For wholesale distributors, except for licensed commercial fishermen transporting their own catch:
(i) The name of the product in accordance with the United States Food and Drug Administration list of acceptable market names;
(ii) One of the following labels: domestic wild caught, domestic farm-raised or imported;
(iii) The name and address of the processor or distributor;
(iv) The certification number as prescribed by regulation promulgated by the Commission; and
(v) The country of origin.
(b) For retail dealers, except for commercial fishermen selling their own catch under a fresh product permit issued by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources:
(i) The name of the product in accordance with the United States Food and Drug Administration list of acceptable market names;
(ii) One of the following labels: domestic wild caught, domestic farm-raised or imported; and
(iii) The country of origin.
(4) Any restaurant that sells seafood or seafood products shall prominently display, on a sign on the premises, on the menu, or both, the following information:
(a) The name of the product in accordance with the United States Food and Drug Administration list of acceptable market names;
(b) One of the following labels: domestic wild caught, domestic farm-raised or imported; and
(c) The country of origin.
(5) For any vehicle or trailer used to transport seafood or seafood products for commercial purposes, the word "FISH" shall be displayed on the rear and side of the vehicle or trailer in block letters not less than four (4) inches in height. The letters shall be of color that will contrast with the background of the vehicle or trailer and so maintained as to be clearly visible and legible. The provisions of this subsection (5) shall not apply to licensed commercial fishermen transporting their own catch.
SECTION 4. Section 69-1-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
69-1-55. (1) No owner or
manager of a restaurant that sells imported crawfish * * * shall misrepresent to the public,
either * * *
on a menu, or on a sign displayed on the premises, that the imported crawfish * * * is domestic.
(2) A restaurant may
designate * * *
crawfish as having a United States country of origin if:
(a) The farm-raised * * * crawfish is hatched, raised,
harvested and processed in the United States; or
(b) The wild * * * crawfish is harvested in the waters
of the United States, a state or a territory of the United States and processed
in the United States, a state or a territory of the United States.
(3) (a) The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce and the Attorney General shall regulate restaurants under this section.
(b) The commissioner shall notify, in writing, any restaurant violating this section and shall give the owner or manager three (3) days to correct the violation. No penalties under this section shall apply to any owner or manager that corrects the violation within three (3) days from the date notified by the commissioner.
(4) In addition to any
other civil or criminal penalties, any person who violates this section or who
otherwise misrepresents imported crawfish * * * as domestic may be punished by a
fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00). For a second offense,
a person may be punished by a fine of not more than Two Thousand Dollars
($2,000.00). For any subsequent violations, a person may be punished by a fine
of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or by having the license for
the restaurant suspended indefinitely or until the restaurant has corrected the
violation, or both. Any person against whom a complaint is made or who has
been made subject to a fine or license suspension as provided by this
subsection may avail themselves of a due process administrative hearing as
provided by Section 69-7-616.
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.