Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 9, September, 2024
I. Incorporation by reference of federal meat
inspection laws and regulations
The Department hereby incorporates by reference the most current
revisions of the following Federal laws and regulations as though set forth
herein line for line and word for word:
Title 7 of the United States Code, Chapter 48, Sections 1902 and
1906;
Title 21 of the United States Code, Chapter 12, Subchapter I,
Sections 601, 603, 604, 605, 606, 607,608, 610,611,612,613,621,622, 623,
Subchapter II, Sections 641,642, 643, 644, and Subchapter IV, Sections 671,
672, 673, 675, 676.
Title 9 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter III,
Subchapters A and E, excluding
* Subchapter A Parts 300.1-300.4, 302.2, 303.1(c), 304.2(c),
307.4(b)-(d), 307.5, 307.6, 316.13(c), 317.7, 318.8, 318.12, 321, 322, 327,
329, 331, 332, 335, 351, 352, 354, 355, 362, 381, and
* Subchapter E Part 439.
However, unless context otherwise dictates, references to "We",
"the Food Safety and Inspection Service", and the "United States Department of
Agriculture" shall refer to the "Arkansas Department of Agriculture" or
"Department", and all words or terms defined or used in the federal regulations
incorporated by reference shall mean the state equivalent or counterpart to
those words or terms. Whenever an official mark, form, certificate, or seal is
designated or required by federal law or regulation, the appropriate Arkansas
Department of Agriculture mark, form, certificate, or seal shall be
substituted.
II. Exemptions
from the Arkansas Meat Inspection Program
1.
The following are exempted from the labeling, sanitary standards, practices,
and procedures of the Arkansas Meat Inspection Program:
A. Livestock producers with respect to
livestock carcasses, parts of livestock carcasses, and meat food products,
processed by the livestock producer from livestock of the livestock producer's
own raising on the producer's own farm and used by the livestock producer for
personal or private consumption;
B.
A person slaughtering livestock or otherwise processing or handling livestock
carcasses, parts of livestock carcasses, or meat food products, that have been
or are to be processed as required by recognized religious dietary laws;
and
C. Any establishment engaged In
slaughtering livestock or processing livestock carcasses, parts of livestock
carcasses, or meat food products for Intrastate commerce and the livestock
carcass, part of a livestock carcass, or meat food product processed by the
establishment when the establishment is subject to inspection under a city
ordinance that sets standards In conformity with the minimum standards of the
Arkansas Meat Inspection Program.
III. Application for License or Exemption
1. An applicant for inspection shall submit
to the Department an annual fee of $100 at the time the application is
submitted.
2. Any establishment
seeking exemption from the Arkansas Meat Inspection Program must submit to the
Department an application for exemption stating In writing the specific
exemption sought by the establishment from the exemptions set in Section II,
Paragraph 1 of these rules.
3. The
Department may accept or deny any application for license or exemption, but the
application fee paid to the Department, if applicable, shall be refunded to the
applicant if an application is denied.
4. The costs for routine inspection shall be
borne by the State, but the cost of overtime and holiday work shall be borne
and paid by the official establishment at the rates for overtime and holiday
services established in Ark. Code Ann. §
20-60-212(a)(2).
IV. Custom Establishments
1. Livestock carcasses, parts of livestock
carcasses, meat, and meat food products that are slaughtered by a custom
establishment shall be:
A. Separated at all
times from inspected livestock carcasses, parts of livestock carcasses, meat,
or meat food products prepared for sale; and
B. Conspicuously and plainly marked "Not For
Sale" Immediately after preparation and shall remain so marked until delivered
to the owner.
V. Inspection and Appeals
1. Any livestock carcass, part of a livestock
carcass, or meat food product found by an inspector to be unwholesome or
adulterated in an official establishment shall be condemned.
A. Condemned meat or meat food products shall
be destroyed for human food purposes under the supervision of an inspector;
or
B. If the meat or meat food
product may be made wholesome and unadulterated by reprocessing, the meat or
meat food product may be reprocessed under the supervision of an inspector and
may not be subject to destruction If the meat or meat food product are then
found by an inspector to be wholesome and unadulterated.
2. An official establishment may appeal an
inspector's finding of condemnation.
A. The
meat or meat food product subject to condemnation shall be conspicuously marked
and segregated pending the completion of Inspection appeal.
B. The official establishment shall provide
its request for inspection appeal in writing to the Department within 48 hours
of the initial finding of condemnation.
C. The finding from the inspection appeal
shall be the final finding, superseding the initial finding of
condemnation.
D. If on inspection
appeal the meat or meat food product is condemned, the meat or meat food
product will be subject to Section V, paragraph (1), without further
opportunity for appeal.
VI. Hearings
Hearings and notices for hearings for the Department's withdrawal
and denial of inspection or the Department's determination that an
advertisement or label is false or misleading shall be performed pursuant to
the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act, Ark. Code Ann. §
25-15-101 et. seq.
Arkansas Meat Inspection Program Rule Comment Summary
Cody Burkham (Arkansas Cattlemen's Association) and Randy Radley
(Griffen's Custom Processing) expressed support for the rule and thanks to the
Department for getting a rule prepared in such a timely fashion and further
stated that the program was very much needed and would be a great benefit to
Arkansas.
Response
The Department appreciates the comments.
