SENATE BILL 1265
By Johnson
HOUSE BILL 1302
By Lamberth
HB1302
003182
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a*53-7,380/2023
AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 53,
Chapter 7 and Chapter 380 of the Public Acts of
2023, relative to the inspection of food derived
from animals.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 53, Chapter 7, Part 2, is amended by
deleting the part and substituting:
53-7-201. Short title.
This part is known and may be cited as the "Tennessee Meat Inspection Act."
53-7-202. Part definitions.
As used in this part:
(1) "Adulterated" has the same meaning as defined in 21 U.S.C. § 601;
(2) "Capable of use as human food" has the same meaning as defined in
21 U.S.C. § 601;
(3) "Carcass" means all parts of a slaughtered animal, including viscera
prior to their preparation as meat or meat food products that may be capable of
use as human food;
(4) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of agriculture or the
commissioner's designee;
(5) "Container" means any box, tin, cloth, receptacle, or other material in
which meat or meat food products are packed;
(6) "Custom operation":
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(A) Means a facility in this state operated under the authority of
this part to slaughter, dress, or prepare another's animal for that person's
use or consumption within the household or among nonpaying guests or
employees; and
(B) Includes application as to slaughter or processing of livestock
or game animals;
(7) "Establishment" means a facility in this state operated under the
authority of this part to slaughter livestock or prepare livestock carcasses for
meat or meat food products for use in intrastate commerce;
(8) "Federal Meat Inspection Act" means 21 U.S.C. § 601 et seq., its
subsequent amendments, and associated regulations;
(9) "Immediate container" means the container in which meat or meat
food products are packed as individual units;
(10) "Intrastate commerce" means commerce within this state;
(11) "Label" has the same meaning as defined in 21 U.S.C. § 601;
(12) "Labeling" has the same meaning as defined in 21 U.S.C. § 601;
(13) "Livestock":
(A) Means cattle, sheep, swine, or goats; and
(B) Does not include feral animals or animals slaughtered for
sport or recreational purposes;
(14) "Meat":
(A) Means muscle or part of any muscle of an animal;
(B) Is either skeletal or is found in the tongue, diaphragm, heart,
or esophagus, and exists with or without the accompanying fat and
portions of bone, skin, sinew, nerve, and blood vessels that normally
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accompany muscle tissue and that are not separated from it in the
process of dressing; and
(C) Does not include muscle found in the lips, snout, or ears;
(15) "Meat food product" means any product capable of use as human
food that is made wholly or in part from any meat or other portion of the carcass
of an animal, excepting products:
(A) That contain meat only in de minimis proportion or that are not
reasonably understood by consumers to contain meat; and
(B) That are exempted from the definition of a meat food product
by the commissioner under such conditions as the commissioner may
prescribe to assure that the meat or other portions of such carcasses
contained in such product are not adulterated and that such products are
not represented as meat food products;
(16) "Misbranded" has the same meaning as defined in 21 U.S.C. § 601;
(17) "Person" means any individual, partnership, firm, corporation,
association, or another form of business entity;
(18) "Prepared" means slaughtered, canned, salted, rendered, boned,
cut up, packed, packaged, or otherwise manufactured or processed; and
(19) "USDA" means the United States department of agriculture.
53-7-203. Purpose – Scope.
(a) The purpose of this part is to create a federally recognized state meat
inspection program to increase production capacity in this state for unadulterated and
properly branded meat and meat food products.
(b) This part applies to:
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(1) A person operating an establishment in this state where livestock are
slaughtered or prepared for use in intrastate commerce;
(2) A person in this state dealing in intrastate commerce relative to
livestock carcasses, meat, or meat food products of livestock; and
(3) A custom operation in this state.
(c) This part does not apply to:
(1) Slaughter, processing, or transporting of carcasses, meat, or meat
food products from a person's own animals for use or consumption by the person
or the person's household or nonpaying guests and employees;
(2) Preparation and sale of carcasses, meat, and meat food products
incident to retail food store or restaurant operations; provided, the meat and meat
food products were previously inspected and approved under either this part or
the federal Meat Inspection Act;
(3) Third-party carrier services for the transportation of carcasses, meat,
and meat food products previously inspected and approved under either this part
or the federal Meat Inspection Act; or
(4) An establishment operating solely under a federal grant of inspection
from the United States department of agriculture, food safety inspection service.
(d) State jurisdiction within the scope of this part is exclusive to the department
of agriculture. A political subdivision of the state shall not regulate or inspect the
slaughtering of any livestock or the processing or transportation of the carcasses, meat,
or meat food products of livestock. This subsection (d) does not preclude or restrict
political subdivisions of the state from exercising police powers, including zoning and
code enforcement, at any establishment or custom operation licensed under this part or
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from entering collaborative agreements with the department of agriculture for
performance of inspection duties and enforcement under this part.
(e) Compliance with this part does not relieve any person from compliance with
the Tennessee Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, compiled in chapter 1 of this title, and the
Testing and Sealing – Use of Weights and Measures Act, compiled in title 47, chapter
26, part 9.
53-7-204. Adoption of federal law.
(a) For purposes of implementing a federally recognized state meat inspection
program, the state adopts the following provisions of federal law:
(1) 7 U.S.C. § 1902, relative to humane slaughter and humane handling
in connection with livestock;
(2) 7 U.S.C. § 1906, relative to ritual slaughter of livestock;
(3) 7 U.S.C. § 1907, relative to the humane treatment of nonambulatory
livestock;
(4) 21 U.S.C. § 603, relative to antemortem inspection, quarantine,
segregation, and humane slaughter of livestock;
(5) 21 U.S.C. § 604, relative to postmortem inspection, labeling,
destruction, and reinspection of livestock carcasses;
(6) 21 U.S.C. § 605, relative to the inspection of carcasses, meat, or
meat food products of livestock brought into establishments;
(7) 21 U.S.C. § 606, relative to inspection and labeling of meat food
products of livestock;
(8) 21 U.S.C. § 607, relative to labeling, marking, and container
requirements for carcasses, meat, and meat food products of livestock; provided,
that the commissioner may withhold any false or misleading mark, label, or
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container unless the marking, labeling, or container is modified in such manner
as the commissioner may prescribe so that it will not be false or misleading;
(9) 21 U.S.C. § 608, relative to sanitary conditions;
(10) 21 U.S.C. § 610, relative to prohibited acts;
(11) 21 U.S.C. § 611, relative to devices, marks, labels, and certificates;
(12) 21 U.S.C. § 612, relative to notifying the commissioner of
adulterated or misbranded meat or meat food products of livestock;
(13) 21 U.S.C. § 613, relative to recall procedures and process control
plans;
(14) 21 U.S.C. § 619, relative to identification of livestock and separation
of slaughtering and preparation activities;
(15) 21 U.S.C. § 621, relative to appointment and duties of inspectors;
(16) 21 U.S.C. § 623, relative to personal slaughter and custom
slaughtering;
(17) 21 U.S.C. § 641, relative to products not intended for use as human
food and denaturation;
(18) 21 U.S.C. § 642, relative to recordkeeping requirements;
(19) 21 U.S.C. § 643, relative to registration of businesses dealing in
carcasses, meat, or meat food products of livestock in intrastate commerce; and
(20) 21 U.S.C. § 644, relative to transportation of or transactions
involving dead, dying, disabled, or diseased animals.
(b) For application to a state meat inspection program, the federal laws adopted
under subsection (a) must be construed as follows, unless otherwise appropriate
according to context:
(1) References to secretary refer to the commissioner;
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(2) References to amenable species, lists of species, and species
designated by regulations of the secretary refer to livestock and any additional
species of animal that the commissioner defines as an amenable species by rule;
(3) References to commerce refer to intrastate commerce;
(4) References to the United States or any state, territory, or the District
of Columbia refer to this state;
(5) Whenever an official mark, form, certificate, or seal is designated or
required, the mark, form, certificate, or seal established by the commissioner
must be substituted; and
(6) Except as provided in subdivisions (b)(1)-(5), for terms that are not
otherwise defined in § 53-7-202, the state adopts the definitions in 21 U.S.C. §
601.
53-7-205. License requirements – Fees.
(a) A person operating an establishment or custom operation must first obtain a
license from the commissioner. All licenses provided for in this part expire annually.
(b) In order to obtain and maintain a license under this part, a person must:
(1) Submit, on forms provided by the department of agriculture,
information prescribed by rule as necessary for the efficient enforcement of this
part;
(2) Pay to the department of agriculture annual license fees, prescribed
by rule under § 43-1-703;
(3) Consent to reasonable inspection of the person's facilities,
equipment, and inventory of carcasses, meat, and meat food products; and
(4) If operating an establishment, submit a criminal history background
check that includes fingerprint checks against state and federal criminal records
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maintained by the Tennessee bureau of investigation. A person is not eligible to
obtain or maintain a license under this part while any person responsibly
connected to the establishment, as contemplated under the federal Meat
Inspection Act, has been convicted of a felony or convicted of more than one (1)
of any other crime, either of which is based upon the acquiring, handling, or
distributing of adulterated, misbranded, or deceptively packaged food or upon
fraud in connection with food transactions.
(c) Prior to the approval of an application for licensure, the commissioner must
inspect the sanitary condition of the establishment or custom operation. If the
commissioner finds its condition conforms to the requirements of this part, the
department of agriculture may issue the license.
(d) Licenses issued under this part are for the location of the licensed
establishment or custom operation and are not transferable from person to person or
location to location.
53-7-206. Powers of commissioner.
(a) The commissioner is authorized to:
(1) Carry out or cause to be carried out all provisions of this part;
(2) Collect all fees established pursuant to this part and apply the fees to
the necessary and incidental costs of the administration of this part in
accordance with title 43, chapter 1, part 7;
(3)
(A) Promulgate rules, pursuant to the Uniform Administrative
Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, as necessary to effectuate
this part, including, but not limited to, rules that adopt required standards
under the federal Meat Inspection Act or that otherwise establish:
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(i) Fees for licensure, registration, and inspection services
of persons and facilities under this part;
(ii) Standards for the sale or transportation of dead, dying,
disabled, or diseased animals;
(iii) Standards for the sanitary operation of establishments
and custom operations;
(iv) Applicant information required for licensure under this
part;
(v) Registration requirements for persons engaged in
businesses set forth in Section 203 of the federal Meat Inspection
Act (21 U.S.C. § 643);
(vi) Inspection, humane handling, and sanitation
requirements for animals other than livestock which can or may be
used in and for the preparation of meat or meat food products;
and
(vii) Requirements for denaturing and identifying products
as not intended for use as human food; and
(B) Rules promulgated pursuant to this part must conform with
requirements of the federal Meat Inspection Act as necessary to gain
federal recognition and approval of a state-inspected meat program and
incorporate regulations compiled at 9 CFR, chapter 3, subchapters A and
E;
(4) Cooperate with the USDA in developing and administering the meat
inspection program of this state under this part to ensure that its requirements
are at least equal to those imposed by the federal Meat Inspection Act;
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(5) Accept from the USDA advisory assistance; technical and laboratory
assistance and training, including necessary curricular and instructional materials
and equipment; and financial and other aid for administration of the program;
(6) Spend state funds, subject to appropriation in the general
appropriations act, for administration of this part;
(7) Recommend to the USDA officials or employees for appointment to
the advisory committee provided for in 21 U.S.C. § 661;
(8) Cooperate with other state, county, or municipal agencies for
administration of this part, including entering into agreements with county or
municipal health departments to carry out duties and requirements of this part;
(9) Conduct all inspections as provided in this part and designate any
officer or employee of this state or any political subdivision of this state for such
purpose;
(10) Embargo articles found or suspected to be in violation of this part;
(11) Seek injunctions from any court of competent jurisdiction to restrain
persons from violating this part;
(12) Determine requirements for and issue licenses under this part;
(13) Deny, suspend, or revoke licenses and issue civil penalties for
violations of this part;
(14) Inspect and copy records of establishments and custom operations
for purposes of determining their compliance with this part;
(15) Hire or appoint qualified personnel sufficient to carry out the duties
required by this part; and
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(16) Serve as the governor's representative for consultation with the
USDA under the federal Meat Inspection Act unless the governor designates
another representative.
53-7-207. Inspections.
(a) Establishments and persons are ineligible for inspection services under this
part unless they have obtained a valid license from the commissioner.
(b) The commissioner may provide voluntary inspection for animals other than
livestock that can or may be used in and for the preparation of meat or meat food
products for distribution in intrastate commerce. The commissioner may refuse to
provide voluntary inspection services for good cause shown, including, but not limited to,
limitation of staff resources or inspector expertise. In all instances, the commissioner
shall give scheduling priority to inspection services that are mandated by the federal
Meat Inspection Act for processing of livestock in intrastate commerce.
(c) For the purpose of providing inspection required under this part,
establishments shall provide the department of agriculture, upon showing of proper
credentials, free access and opportunity to examine establishment facilities and
equipment, to review and copy records, and to take reasonable samples of inventory or
product as necessary to determine compliance with this part.
(d)
(1) The cost for inspection services is as follows:
(A) For livestock, the cost of inspection required under this part is
borne by the state; provided, that any extra cost of inspection from
overtime or holiday operation is borne by the establishment, as set by rule
under § 43-1-703; and
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(B) For voluntary inspection services, the cost of inspection
required under this part is borne by the establishment, as set by rule
under § 43-1-703.
(2) The costs for inspection services under subdivision (d)(1) do not
cover costs associated with devices and supplies used for marking and
stamping, containers, and labels, which are borne by the establishment, as set
by rule under § 43-1-703. However, all devices and supplies used for marking
inspection approvals upon food products are under the exclusive control of the
department of agriculture.
53-7-208. Custom operations.
(a) Custom operations are subject only to provisions of this part relating to
licensing, registration, humane slaughter, humane handling, sanitation, misbranding, and
adulteration.
(b) The commissioner may exempt from state meat inspection any animals or
their meat or meat food products that are processed for custom operations; provided,
that:
(1) The custom operations occur in a facility that is licensed under this
part;
(2) The facility separates at all times carcasses, meat, meat food
products, and their containers prepared on a custom basis from inspected
carcasses, meat, or meat food products, and their containers prepared for sale;
(3) The facility plainly marks all articles and their containers prepared on
a custom basis as "Not for Sale". The mark must be made immediately after
being packaged and the article kept so identified until delivered to the owner; and
(4) The facility is maintained and operated in a sanitary manner.
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(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a), custom operations shall provide the
department of agriculture, upon showing of proper credentials, free access and
opportunity to examine custom operation facilities and equipment, to review and copy
records, and to take reasonable samples of inventory or product as necessary to
determine whether the custom operation qualifies for exemption from regular inspections
and is otherwise in compliance with this part.
53-7-209. Prohibited acts.
(a) It is a violation of this part for a person to:
(1) Engage in an act prohibited under the federal Meat Inspection Act;
(2) Slaughter livestock or process meat or meat food products in violation
of this part;
(3) Slaughter livestock in intrastate commerce, process meat or meat
food products in intrastate commerce, or conduct a custom operation without a
license required under this part;
(4) Generate products from a custom operation unless individually
labeled "Not for Sale";
(5) Sell, offer for sale, distribute, or transport in commerce products
generated from a custom operation;
(6) Fail to denature or otherwise identify as required by rules any meat or
meat food product that has been inspected and found to be adulterated;
(7)
(A) Interfere with the commissioner in the performance of official
duties, including inspection of licensed establishments; and
(B) As used in this subdivision (a)(7), "interfere" includes, but is
not limited to, forcible assault or resistance, physical impediment,
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intimidation, or other conduct designed to interrupt performance of
departmental duties under this part;
(8) Remove, sell, or dispose of an embargoed article without permission
of the commissioner or a court; or
(9) Remove a tag or other marking affixed to an article giving notice that
the article is embargoed.
(b) A violation of this part is punishable as a Class C misdemeanor. This section
does not require the department of agriculture to report violations of this part for criminal
prosecution if the department of agriculture believes that the public interest will be
adequately served and compliance with this part is obtained by a suitable written notice
of warning or application of civil penalty.
53-7-210. Violations – Suspension and revocation.
(a) The commissioner may deny, suspend, or revoke a license issued pursuant
to this part if the commissioner finds, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, that the
applicant or licensee has violated this part.
(b) Inspection services under this part must not be conducted at any
establishment where the commissioner has denied, suspended, or revoked a license.
(c) Upon demonstration that the conditions that led to denial, suspension, or
revocation of a license have been cured, persons may submit a new application for a
license.
53-7-211. Embargo and condemnation.
(a) Whenever the commissioner has probable cause to believe that a carcass,
meat, or meat food product is adulterated, misbranded, or otherwise in violation of this
part or that any mark, label, or container is false or misleading, the commissioner may
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mark the article as embargoed and conduct enforcement resolution procedures
consistent with § 53-1-201.
(b) In lieu of condemnation or destruction, articles that may comply with this part
upon further reprocessing or relabeling may be ordered held, in the discretion of the
commissioner, until such time as the articles are reprocessed or relabeled and found
upon reinspection to comply with this part.
53-7-212. Hearings and appeals.
A hearing or appeal held pursuant to this part must be conducted substantially in
accordance with the contested case provisions of the Uniform Administrative Procedures
Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, part 3.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 53, Chapter 7, is amended by addition
of the following as a new part:
53-7-401. Part definitions.
As used in this part:
(1) "Federal Poultry Products Act" means the act compiled at 21 U.S.C. §
451 et seq. and its subsequent amendments; and
(2) "USDA" means the United States department of agriculture.
53-7-402. Poultry.
Nothing in this chapter applies to any action subject to regulation under the
Federal Poultry Products Act, which remains under the sole jurisdiction of the USDA,
food safety inspection service; provided, that state inspectors are not excluded from
making routine inspections and from taking samples at federally inspected plants when
cooperating with federal authorities for purposes of enforcing federal regulation.
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SECTION 3. The headings in this act are for reference purposes only and do not
constitute a part of the law enacted by this act. However, the Tennessee Code Commission is
requested to include the headings in any compilation or publication containing this act.
SECTION 4.
(a) For purposes of promulgating rules, hiring of personnel, and taking other
administrative actions necessary to implement this act, this act takes effect upon
becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.
(b) For all other purposes, this act takes effect immediately upon thirty (30) days
following the commissioner of agriculture's receipt from the United States department of
agriculture, food safety and inspection service, that the requirements of the federal Meat
Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.) necessary to a cooperative agreement for a
state meat inspection program have been met.
(c) The commissioner of agriculture or the commissioner's designee shall notify
the executive secretary of the Tennessee code commission upon receipt from the
federal food safety and inspection service (FSIS) that Tennessee has met the
requirements under the federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. § 601 et seq.) to enter
into a cooperative agreement with FSIS for a state meat inspection program.