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Title

06

:
Agriculture






Chapter

204

:
PREPARATION OF LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY PRODUCTS











 

§

3306. Licensing

(a) No person

shall engage in intrastate commerce in the business of buying, selling,

preparing, processing, packing, storing, transporting, or otherwise handling

meat, meat food products, or poultry products, unless that person holds a valid

license issued under this chapter. Categories of licensure shall include:

commercial slaughterers, custom slaughterers, commercial processors, custom

processors, wholesale distributors, retail vendors, meat and poultry product

brokers, renderers, public warehouse operators, animal food manufacturers,

handlers of dead, dying, disabled, or diseased animals, and any other category

which the Secretary may by rule establish.

(b) The owner or

operator of each plant or establishment of the kind specified in subsection (a)

of this section shall apply in writing to the Secretary on a form prescribed by

him or her for a license to operate the plant or establishment. In case of

change of ownership or change of location, a new application shall be made. Any

person engaged in more than one licensed activity shall obtain separate

licenses for each activity.

(c) The head of

service shall investigate all circumstances in connection with the application

for license to determine whether the applicable requirements of this chapter

and rules made under it have been complied with. The Secretary shall grant,

condition, or refuse the license upon the basis of all information available to

him or her including all facts disclosed by investigation. Each license shall

bear an identifying number.

(d) The annual

fee for a license for a retail vendor is $15.00 for vendors without meat

cutting operations, $30.00 for vendors with meat cutting space of less than 300

square feet or meat display space of less than 20 linear feet, and $60.00 for

vendors with 300 or more square feet of meat cutting space and 20 or more

linear feet of meat display space. Fees collected under this section shall be

deposited in a special fund managed pursuant to 32 V.S.A. chapter 7, subchapter

5, and shall be available to the Agency to offset the cost of administering

chapter 204 of this title. For all other plants, establishments, and related

businesses listed under subsection (a) of this section, except for a public

warehouse licensed under chapter 67 of this title, the annual license fee shall

be $50.00.

(e) The

Secretary may, after notice and opportunity for hearing, refuse to grant,

suspend, or revoke a license, may impose terms or conditions for operation

under a license, including video monitoring, or may take any other action which

he or she deems appropriate concerning any license, if he or she determines

that any false statement was made in the application or if he or she finds that

there is any failure to comply with this chapter or the rules made under it.

(f) Repealed.]

(g) Producers of

livestock and livestock dealers who sell carcasses to or through inspected

slaughterhouses are exempt from having to obtain a wholesale distributor's

license under this section. All other licensing provisions shall be applicable

to such an individual.

(h) The

Secretary may deny a commercial slaughter license or the renewal of a

commercial slaughter license under this chapter to a person who has been

convicted of a felony, convicted of a misdemeanor involving cruelty to animals,

or has been found in violation of section 3132 of this title more than once.

The Secretary may deny a commercial slaughter license or renewal of a

commercial slaughter license under this chapter if a person responsibly

connected to the applicant has been convicted of a felony, convicted of a

misdemeanor involving cruelty to animals, or has been found in violation of

section 3132 of this title more than once. As used in this subsection, a

"person responsibly connected to an applicant" is a partner, officer,

director, holder, or owner of 10 percent or more of the voting stock of the

applicant's business or is an employee in a managerial or executive capacity at

the applicant's business.

(i) All

applicants for licensure or relicensure as a commercial slaughter facility

shall submit a written humane livestock handling plan for review and approval

by the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets or designee. The Secretary

may suspend, revoke, or condition any commercial slaughter facility license,

after notice and opportunity for hearing, for a licensee's failure to adhere to

the written plan.

(j) Commercial

slaughter facilities issued a license by the Agency of Agriculture, Food and

Markets shall submit to the Secretary or designee within five days of receipt

any documentation received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

related to violations of the Federal Humane Slaughter Act and rules adopted

thereunder. The Secretary shall review the documentation submitted under this

subdivision for potential action under this chapter or chapter 201 of this

title. A failure to submit documentation required under this subdivision shall

be a violation of this chapter subject to an administrative penalty under

chapter 15 of this title. (Added 1985, No. 226 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. June 2,

1986; amended 1989, No. 257 (Adj. Sess.), § 15; 1991, No. 228 (Adj. Sess.), §

2; 2001, No. 143 (Adj. Sess.), § 40, eff. June 21, 2002; 2003, No. 42, § 2,

eff. May 27, 2003; 2007, No. 207 (Adj. Sess.), § 5, eff. April 15, 2009; 2009,

No. 134 (Adj. Sess.), § 14; 2009, No. 158 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. June 3, 2010;

2013, No. 83, § 3, eff. June 10, 2013.)