Delaware General Assembly


CHAPTER 69

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 17, TITLE 3, DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE COMMERCIAL FEEDS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Delaware:

Section 1. Chapter 17, Title 3, Delaware Code, is repealed and a new Chapter 17, Title 3, Delaware Code, is substituted therefor as follows :

CHAPTER 17. COMMERCIAL FEEDS

§ 1701. Title

This Act shall be known as the "Delaware Commercial Feed Law of 1967."

§ 1702. Enforcing agency

This Act shall be administered by the State Board of Agriculture of the State of Delaware, hereinafter referred to as the "Board."

1703. Definitions of words and terms When used in this Act:

(a) The term "person" includes individual, partnership, corporation and association.

(b) The term "distribute" means to offer for sale, sell or barter, commercial feed or customer--formula feed; or to supply, furnish or otherwise provide commercial feed or customer-formula feed to a contract feeder ; The term "distributor" means any person who distributes.

(c) The term "sell" or "sale" includes exchange.

(d) The term "commercial feed" means all materials which are distributed for the use as feed or for mixing in feed, for animals other than man except;

(1) unmixed or unprocessed whole seeds and meals made directly from the entire seed.

(1) Unground hay, straw, stover, silage, cobs, husks and hulls when not mixed with other materials.

(2) Individual chemical compounds when not mixed with other materials.

(e) The term "feed ingredient" means each of the constituent materials making up a commercial feed.

() The term "mineral feed" shall mean a substance or mixture of substances designed or intended to supply primarily mineral elements or inorganic nutrients.

(a) The term "customer-formula feed" means a mixture of commercial feeds and/or materials each batch of which mixture is mixed according to the specific instructions of the final purchaser, or contract feeder.

(b) The term "brand name" means any word, name, symbol or device, or any combination thereof, identifying the commercial feed of a distributor and distinguishing it from that of others.

(c) The term "product name" means the name of the commercial feed which identifies it as to kind, class or specific use.

(d) The term "label" means a display of written, printed or graphic matter upon or affixed to the container in which a commercial feed is distributed, or on the invoice or delivery slip with which a commercial feed or customer-formula feed is distributed.

() The term "ton" means a net weight of two thousand pounds avoirdupois.

(1) The term "per cent" or "percentage" means percentage by weight.

(m) The term "official sample" means any sample of feed taken by the Board or his agent and designated as "official" by the Board.

() The term "contract feeder" means a person who, as an independent contractor, feeds commercial feed to animals pursuant to a contract whereby such commercial feed is supplied,

furnished or otherwise provided to such person and whereby such person's remuneration is determined all or in part by feed consumption, mortality, profits, or amount or quality of product.

§ 1704. Registration

(a) Each commercial feed shall be registered before being distributed in this State; provided, however, that customer-formula feeds are exempt from registration. The application for registration shall be submitted on forms furnished by the Board, and, shall also be accompanied by a label or other printed matter describing the product. Upon approval by the Board, a copy of the registration shall be furnished to the applicant. All registrations expire on December 31 of each year. The application shall include the information required by subparagraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5) of paragraph (a) of Section 1705. The Board may permit on the registration the alternative listing of ingredients of comparable feeding value, provided that the label for each package shall state the specific ingredients which are in such package.

(b) A distributor shall not be required to register any brand of commercial feed which is already registered under this Act by another person.

(c) Changes in the guarantee of either chemical or ingredient composition of a registered commercial feed may be permitted provided there is satisfactory evidence that such changes would not result in a lowering of the feeding value of the product for the purpose for which designed.

(d) The Board is empowered to refuse registration of any application not in compliance with the provisions of this Act and to cancel any registration subsequently found not to be in compliance with any provision of this Act; provided, however, that no registration shall be refused or cancelled until the registrant shall have been given opportunity to be heard before the Board and to amend his application in order to comply with the requirements of this Act.

§ 1705. Labeling

(a) Any commercial feed distributed in this State shall be accompanied by a legible label bearing the following information:

(1) The net weight.

(2) The product name; and brand name, if any, under which the commercial feed is distributed.

(3) The guaranteed analysis of the commercial feed, listing the minimum percentage of crude protein, minimum percentage of crude fat, and maximum percentage of crude fiber. For all mineral feeds and for those commercial feeds containing a level of added mineral ingredients established by regulation, the list shall include the following, if added : Minimum and maximum percentages of calcium (Ca), minimum percentage of phosphorus (P), minimum percentage of iodine (I), and minimum percentages of salt (NaC1) . Other substances or elements, determinable by laboratory methods, may be guaranteed by permission of the Board. When any items are guaranteed, they shall be subject to inspection and analysis in accordance with the methods and regulations that may be prescribed by the Board. The Board may by regulation designate certain commercial feeds which need not be labeled to show guarantees for crude protein, crude fat and crude fiber.

(0) The common or usual name of each ingredient used in the manufacture of the commercial feed, except as the Board may, by regulation, permit the use of a collective term for a group of ingredients all of which perform the same function. An ingredient statement is not required for single standardized ingredient feeds which are officially defined.

(1) The name and principal address of the person responsible for distributing the commercial feed.

(b) When a commercial feed is distributed in this State in bags or other containers, the label shall be placed on or affixed to the container; when a commercial feed is distributed in bulk the label shall accompany delivery and be furnished to the purchaser at the time of delivery.

(c) A customer-formula feed shall be labeled by invoice. The invoice, which is to accompany delivery and be supplied to the purchaser at the time of delivery, shall bear the following information :

(1) Name and address of the mixer.

(2) Name and address of the purchaser.

(3) Date of sale.

(4) The product name and brand name, if any, and number of pounds of each registered commercial feed used in the mixture and the name and number of pounds of each other feed ingredient added.

(d) If a commercial feed or a customer-formula feed contains a non-nutritive substance which is intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease or which is intended to affect the structure or any function of the animal body, the Board may require the label to show the amount present, directions for use, and/or warnings against misuse of the feed.

§ 1706. Registration fees

There shall be paid to the Board for each commercial feed distributed in this State an annual registration fee of $20.00 per brand; provided, however, that the customer-formula feeds are exempt if the registration fee is paid on the commercial feeds which they contain.

All registration fees shall be transferred to the State Treasurer and paid into the General Fund of the State.

§ 1707. Adulteration

No person shall distribute an adulterated feed. A commercial feed or customer-formula feed shall be deemed to be adulterated:

(a) If any poisonous, deleterious or non-nutritive ingredient has been added in sufficient amount to rended it injurious to health when fed in accordance with directions for use on the label.

(b) If any valuable constituent has been in whole or in part omitted or abstracted therefrom or any less valuable substance substituted therefor.

(c) If its composition or quality falls below or differs from that which it is purported or is represented to possess by its labeling.

(d) If it contains added hulls, screenings, straw, cobs, or other high fiber material unless the name of each such material is stated on the label.

(e) If it contains viable weed seeds in amounts exceeding the limits which the Board shall establish by rule or regulation.

§ 1708. Misbranding

No person shall distribute misbranded feed. A commercial feed or customer-formula feed shall be deemed to be misbranded :

(a) If its labeling is false or misleading in any particular.

(b) If it is distributed under the name of another feed.

(c) If it is not labeled as required in Section 1705 of this Act and in regulations prescribed under this Act.

(d) If it purports to be or is represented as a feed ingredient, or if it purports to contain or is represented as containing a feed ingredient, unless such feed ingredient conforms to the definition of identity, if any, prescribed by regulation of the Board; in the adopting of such regulations the board shall give due regard to commonly accepted definitions such as those issued by the Association of American Feed Control Officials.

(e) If any word, statement, or other information required by or under authority of this Act to appear on the label or labeling is not prominently placed thereon with such conspicuousness (as compared with other words, statements, designs, or devices, in the labeling) and in such terms as to render it likely to be read and understood by the ordinary individual under the customary conditions of purchase and use.

§ 1709. Inspections, sampling, analysis

(a) It shall be the duty of the Board, who may act through his authorized agent, to sample, inspect, make analyses of, and test commercial feeds and customer-formula feeds distributed within this State at such time and place to such an extent as he may deem necessary to determine whether such feeds are in compliance with th provisions of this Act. The Board individually or through his agent, is authorized to enter upon

any public or private premises including any vehicle of transport during regular business hours in order to have access to commercial feeds and customer-formula feeds and to records relating to their distribution.

(b) The methods of sampling and analysis shall be those adopted by the Board from sources such as the Journal of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists.

(b) The Board, in determining for administrative purposes whether a commercial feed is deficient in any component, shall be guided solely by the official sample as defined in paragraph (1) of Section 1703 and obtained and analyzed as provided for in paragraph (b) of Section 1709.

(c) When the inspection and analysis of an official sample indicates a commercial feed has been adulterated or misbranded, the results of analysis shall be forwarded by the Board to the distributor and the purchaser. Upon request within thirty days the Board shall furnish to the distributor a portion of the samples concerned.

§ 1710. Rules and regulations

The Board is hereby charged with the enforcement of this Act, and after due publicity and due public hearing is empowered to promulgate and adopt such reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary in order to secure the efficient administration of this Act. Publicity concerning the public hearing shall be reasonable calculated to give interested parties adequate notice and adequate opportunity to be heard.

§ 1711. Detained commercial feeds

(a) "Withdrawal from distribution" orders. When the Board or his authorized agent has reasonable cause to believe any lot of commercial feed is being distributed in violation of any of the provisions of this Act or of any of the prescribed regulations under this Act, he may issue and enforce a written or printed "withdrawal from distribution" order, warning the distributor not to dispose of the lot of feed in any manner until written permission is given by the Board or the Court. The Board shall release the lot of commercial feed so withdrawn when said provisions and regulations have been complied with.

If compliance is not obtained within 30 days, the Board may begin, or upon request of the distributor shall begin, proceedings for condemnation.

(b) Condemnation and confiscation. Any lot of commercial feed not in compliance with said provisions and regulations shall be subject to seizure on complaint of the Board to a court of competent jurisdiction in the area in which said commercial is located. In the event the court finds the said commercial feed to be in violation of this Act and orders the condemnation of said commercial feed, it shall be disposed of in any manner consistent with the quality of the commercial feed and the laws of the State: Provided, that in no instance shall the disposition of said commercial feed be ordered by the court without first giving the claimant an opportunity to apply to the court for release of said commercial feed or for permission to process or re-label said commercial feed to bring it into compliance with this Act.

§ 1712. Penalties

(a) Any person convicted of violating any of the provisions of this Act or the rules and regulations issued thereunder or who shall impede, obstruct, hinder, or otherwise prevent or attempt to prevent said Board or his duly authorized agent in performance of his duty in connection with the provisions of this Act, shall be adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than $50.00 for the first violation, and not less than $50.00 for each subsequent violation. In all prosecutions under this Act involving the composition of a lot of commercial feed, a certified copy of the official analysis signed by the Board shall be accepted as prima facie evidence of the composition.

() Nothing in this Act shall be construed as requiring the Board or his representative to report for prosecution or for the institution of seizure proceedings as a result of minor violations of the Act when he believes that the public interest will be best served by a suitable notice of warning in writing.

() It shall be the duty of the Attorney General to whom any violation is reported to cause appropriate proceedings to be instituted and prosecuted in a court of competent jurisdiction

without delay. Before the Board reports a violation for such prosecution, an opportunity shall be given the distributor to present his view to the Board.

(d) The Board is hereby authorized to apply for and the court to grant a temporary or permanent injunction restraining any person from violating or continuing to violate any of the provisions of this Act or any rule or regulation promulgated under the Act notwithstanding the existence of other remedies at law. Said injunction to be issued without bond.

(e) Any person adversely affected by an act, order or ruling made pursuant to the provisions of this Act may within 45 days thereafter bring action in the Court in the County where the enforcement official has his office for new trial of the issues bearing upon such Act, order or ruling, and upon such trial the Court may issue and enforce such orders, judgments or decrees as the Court may deem proper, just and equitable.

§ 1713. Publications

The Board shall publish at least semi-annually, in such forms as he may deem proper, a report of the results of the analyses of official samples of commercial feeds sold within the State as compared with the analyses guaranteed in the registration and on the label.

§ 1714. Constitutionality

If any clause, sentence, paragraph, or part of this Act shall for any reason be judged invalid by any court or competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered.

§ 1715. Repeal

All laws and parts of laws in conflict with or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

Approved July 13, 1967.