COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 411
(By Senators Ross, Helmick, Sharpe, Scott and Plymale)
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[Originating in the Committee on Agriculture;
reported February 23, 1996.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section eight, article two-b, chapter
nineteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the exemptions
to the inspection of meat products; and allowing an owner to
pay a person who is not a commercial or custom slaughterer
for his or her services.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eight, article two-b, chapter nineteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2B. INSPECTION OF ANIMALS, MEAT AND MEAT PRODUCTS.
§19-2B-8. Exemptions.
(a) In order to accomplish the objectives of this article,
the commissioner may by reasonable rules exempt from inspection:
(1) Any commercial dealer, provided all carcasses, meat
products or poultry products sold or offered for sale by such
dealer were slaughtered and/or processed in commercial
establishments under state inspection or have been inspected and passed by the United States department of agriculture and shall
be identified, labeled and sold in normal retail quantities as
prescribed by reasonable rules promulgated by the commissioner;
(2) The slaughtering by any person of animals of his or her
own raising, and the preparation by him or her of the carcasses,
meat products or poultry products of such animals exclusively for
use by him or her and members of his or her household and his or
her nonpaying guests and employees; or custom slaughtered
animals, by a custom slaughterer, delivered by the owner thereof
for such slaughter and the preparation by such slaughterer or
custom processor of the carcasses, meat products or poultry
products of such animals, exclusively for use, in the household
of such owner, by him or her and members of his or her household
and his or her nonpaying guests and employees: Provided, That
the custom slaughterer or custom processor is not handling
adulterated carcasses, meat products and poultry products;
maintains identity of carcasses, meat products and poultry
products; and maintains acceptable sanitation and operational
controls as prescribed by reasonable rules promulgated by the
commissioner: Provided, however, That nothing contained in this
article shall prevent any person, who has animals of his or her
own raising, when the meat products of such animals are
exclusively used by the person, members of his or her household
and nonpaying guests and employees of the person, from
slaughtering any of those animals or having any of those animals
slaughtered or dressed by a person other than a commercial
slaughterer or custom slaughterer, as defined in this article, and paying that person for these services;
(3) Antemortem and postmortem inspection of a licensed
custom slaughterer;
(4) Any other operations which the commissioner may
determine would best be exempted to further the purposes of this
article, to the extent such exemptions conform to the federal
Meat Inspection Act and the federal Poultry Products Inspection
Act, as amended from time to time, and the regulations
thereunder.
(b) Any institution operated by the state requiring
inspection under this article shall be exempt from the licensing
fee as required by section four of said article.