H. B. 2703
(By Delegates Leggett, Henderson, Boggs,
Yeager, Ennis and Fragale)
[Introduced March 24, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources.]
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 exemptions to
the inspecting of meat and meat products when animals are
slaughtered and dressed for exclusive use of owner, his or
her family and other nonpaying persons; and providing when
owner can 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 the
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 these 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
a slaughterer or custom processor of the carcasses, meat products
or poultry products of such these animals, exclusively for use,
in the household of such the 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 or
poultry products of these animals are exclusively used by him or
her and members of his or her household and nonpaying quests and
employees, 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 that 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 this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow the owner of
animals raised, maintained and slaughtered exclusively for his or her own use, to pay for the services of slaughtering,
butchering or dressing the carcass, to a person who is not a
commercial or custom slaughterer.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.