Regulation of establishments where animals are slaughtered or meat is processed, and granting rule-making authority. (FE)

License fees Current law requires certain establishments that slaughter livestock or poultry, or that process meat or poultry products, to pay an annual license fee of $200.

Establishments that only slaughter uninspected livestock or poultry or process uninspected meat or poultry products as a custom service pay a reduced annual license fee of $80.

This bill requires DATCP to set, by rule, the annual license fees for establishments based on the type of inspection required, which are not to exceed $200, and to establish a reduced annual license fee for establishments that only slaughter livestock or poultry or process meat or poultry products as a custom service.

Exemptions Current law also creates an exemption to the licensing and fee requirements for establishments that only process meat or poultry products for retail sale directly to customers on the premises, if only inspected meat or poultry products are allowed on the premises, and if sales to restaurants and institutions do not exceed either 25 percent of the establishment's sales or $28,800 annually, whichever amount is less.

This bill changes the third requirement to this exemption so that sales to hotels, restaurants, and institutions must not exceed either 25 percent of the establishment's gross annual value of sales of meat or poultry products or the adjusted dollar limitation that is published by the federal Department of Agriculture, whichever is less.

This bill creates additional exemptions to the licensing and fee requirements for establishments that meet certain federal Department of Agriculture requirements, including establishments that prepare ready-to-eat pizzas containing meat or poultry and transport them directly to a public or private nonprofit institution to be served, or that prepare ready-to-eat meat or poultry food items at a central kitchen and transport them to be served as meals to customers at restaurants or vending machines owned by the same company as the central kitchen.

This bill also creates an exemption to the licensing and inspection requirements for establishments that slaughter or process captive game animals and captive game birds, as defined in the bill. The bill also requires DATCP to provide voluntary inspection services upon request to licensed establishments for the slaughter of captive game animal and captive game bird species designated by DATCP by rule as eligible for those services. The bill also requires the establishment requesting the inspection services to reimburse DATCP for the cost of the services, at rates to be established by DATCP by rule.

Inspections Current law allows DATCP to suspend an inspection at an establishment for acts that substantially impair an inspector's ability to conduct an orderly inspection.

This bill adds the requirement that DATCP must provide written notice of suspension of the inspection.

Other Current law requires the operator of a licensed establishment to comply with specific federal Department of Agriculture regulations. This bill instead requires operators to comply with federal requirements as provided in rules that are promulgated by DATCP.

Finally, current law allows DATCP to enter into agreements with counties and municipalities for inspection and enforcement services. Current law also allows livestock and poultry, and meat or poultry products, to be inspected and approved under state law, the federal Meat Inspection Act, the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act, or county or municipal ordinances or regulations that have been approved by DATCP. This bill eliminates the provisions relating to county and municipal ordinances and inspections.