CHAPTER 396
AN ACT TO AMEND PART VIII, TITLE 8 OF THE DELAWARE CODE ENTITLED "MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION ACT" TO PROVIDE FOR THE CONFORMITY OF DELAWARE LAW WITH THE FEDERAL MEAT INSPECTION ACT TO BE EFFECTED BY AMENDING AND REPEALING EXISTING LAWS PERTAINING THERETO.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Delaware:
Section 1. § 8703, Subchapter I, Chapter 87, Title 3, Delaware Code, is amended to read as follows:
§ 8703. Definitions
As used in this Chapter--
(a) "Intrastate commerce" means commerce within this State.
(b) "Board" means the State Board of Agriculture of this State, or any person authorized to act in its stead.
(c) "Board of Health" means the State Board of Health.
(d) "Chief Inspector" means the employee of the State Board of Agriculture designated to be the Chief enforcement officer for this Chapter.
(e) "Livestock" means cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules or other equines.
(f) "Meat" means any edible part of the carcass of any livestock.
(g) "Meat food product" means any article of food, or any article intended for or capable of use as human food, which is derived or prepared, in whole or in part, from any portion of any livestock unless exempted by the Board upon its determination that the article (1) contains only a minimal amount of meat and is not represented as a meat food product or (2) is for medicinal purposes and is advertised only to the medical profession.
(h) "Poultry" means any live or slaughtered domesticated bird.
(i) "Poultry product" means any poultry which has been slaughtered for human food from which the blood, feathers, feet, head, and viscera have been removed in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the Board, any edible part of poultry, or any human food product consisting of any edible part of poultry separately or in combination with other ingredients. However, any such human food product may be exempted from this definition by the Board upon its determination that the product (1) contains only a minimal amount of poultry and is not represented as a poultry product or (2) is used for medicinal purposes and is advertised only to the medical profession.
(j) "Wholesome" means sound, healthful, clean and otherwise fit for human food.
(k) "Adulterated" shall apply to any livestock or poultry carcass, part thereof, meat food product or poultry product under one or more of the following circumstances:
(1) If it bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render it injurious to health; but, in case the substance is not an added substance, such article shall not be considered adulterated under this clause if the quality of such substance does not ordinarily render it injurious to health;
(2) If it bears or contains any added poisonous or added deleterious substance, unless such substance is permitted in its production or unavoidable under good manufacturing practices as may be determined by rules and regulations prescribed by the Board; Provided, that any quantity of such added substances exceeding the limit so fixed shall also be deemed to constitute adulteration;
(3) If any substance has been substituted, wholly or in part, therefor;
(4) If damage or inferiority has been concealed in any manner;
(5) If any valuable constituent has been in whole or in part omitted or abstracted therefrom;
(6) If any substance has been added thereto or mixed or packed therewith so as to increase its bulk or weight, or reduce its quality or strength, or make it appear better or of greater value than it is;
(7) If it is unsound, injurious to health, containing any biological residue not permitted by rules or regulations prescribed by the Board, or otherwise rendered unfit for human food;
(8) If it consists in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance;
(9) If it is processed, prepared, packed, or held under unsanitary conditions whereby any livestock or poultry carcass or part thereof or any meat food product or poultry product may have become contaminated with filth or may have been rendered injurious to health;
(0) If it is produced in whole or in part from livestock or poultry which has died otherwise than by slaughter; or
(7) If it is packaged in a container composed of any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render the contents injurious to health.
Section 2. § 8707, Subchapter II, Chapter 87, Title 3, Delaware Code, is amended to read as follows:
§ 8707. Inspection required
(a) For the purpose of preventing the entry into or movement in intrastate commerce of any livestock or poultry carcass, part thereof, meat food product or poultry product which is unwholesome or adulterated and is intended for or capable of use as human food, the Chief Inspector shall cause to be made by inspectors ante-mortem inspection of livestock and poultry in any official establishment where livestock or poultry are slaughtered for such commerce.
(b) For the purpose stated in subsection (a), the Chief Inspector whenever slaughtering or other processing operations are being conducted, shall cause to be made by inspectors postmortem and processing inspection of the carcasses and parts thereof of each animal and bird slaughtered in any such official establishment and shall cause to be made by inspectors an inspection of all meat food products and poultry products processed in any official establishment in which meat food products or poultry products are processed for intrastate commerce.
Section 3. § 8709 (c), Subchapter II, Chapter 87, Title 3, Delaware Code, is hereby amended to read as follows:
"(c) Each carcass or part thereof which is found on ante-mortem, post-mortem or process inspection to be unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food, shall be marked conspicuously by the inspector at the time of inspection with the words, "Delaware inspected and condemned, and shall be destroyed for food purposes by the official establishment in the presence of an inspector."
Section 4. Subchapter II, Chapter 87, Title 3, Delaware Code, is hereby amended by adding a new section designated § 8710 to read as follows:
§ 8710. Meat inedible by humans; identification
Inspection shall not be required under this chapter at any establishment for the slaughter of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines, or the preparation of any carcasses or parts or products of such animals, which are not intended for use as human food, but such articles shall, prior to their offer for sale or transportation in intrastate commerce, unless naturally inedible by humans, be denatured or otherwise identified as prescribed by the regulations of the Board to deter their use for human food. No person, firm, or corporation shall buy, sell, transport, or offer for sale or transportation, or receive for transportation, in intrastate commerce, any carcasses, parts thereof, meat or meat food products of any such animals, which are not intended for use as human food unless they are denatured or otherwise identified as required by the regulations of the Board or are naturally inedible by the humans.
Section 5. § 8711, Subchapter III, Chapter 87, Title 3, Delaware Code, is hereby amended to read as follows:
License for operating official establishments, etc.
No person, firm or corporation shall engage in business, in or for intrastate commerce, as a meat broker, renderer, or animal food manufacturer, or engage in business in intrastate commerce as a wholesaler of any carcasses, or parts or products of the carcasses, of any cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines, whether intended for human food or other purposes, or engage in business as a public warehouseman storing any such article in or for intrastate commerce, or engage in the business of buying, selling, or transporting in intrastate commerce any dead, dying, disabled, or diseased animals of the specified kinds, or parts of the carcasses of any such animals that died otherwise than by slaughter, or operate and maintain an official establishment within this State without first having received a license from the Board.
Section 6. § 8721 (a), Subchapter IV, Chapter 87, Title 3, Delaware Code, is hereby amended by striking Paragraphs (3), (4), and (5).
Section 7. § 8725, Subchapter V, Chapter 87, Title 3, Delaware Code, is hereby amended by adding after the word "received" and before the word "shall" the following:
"or engaged in business as renderers, or engaged in the business of buying, selling, or transporting in intra-state commerce any dead, dying, disabled, or diseased cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines or part of the carcasses of any such animals that died otherwise than by slaughter,"
Section 8. § 8726, Subchapter V, Chapter 87, Title 3, Delaware Code, is hereby amended by striking Paragraphs "(b)" and "(1)" and adding thereto a new subparagraph designated "(o)".
"(o) The buying, selling, transporting, offering for sale or transport, or receiving for transporting in intrastate commerce by a person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of buying, selling or transporting in intrastate commerce dead, dying, disabled or diseased animals, or any parts of the carcasses of any animal that died otherwise than by slaughter, unless such transportation, transaction, or importation is made in accordance with such regulation as the Board may prescribe to assure that such animals, or the unwholesome parts or products thereof, will be prevented from being used for human food purposes."
Section 9. § 8727, Subchapter V, Chapter 87, Title 3, Delaware Code, is hereby amended by adding thereto two new paragraphs designated "d" and "e".
§ 8927. (d) Any person, firm, or corporation, or any agent or employee of any person, firm, or corporation, who shall give, pay, or offer, directly or indirectly, to any inspector, deputy inspector, chief inspector, or any other officer or employee of the State of Delaware authorized to perform any of the duties prescribed by this Chapter or by the rules and regulations of the State Board of Agriculture any money or other thing of value, with intent to influence said inspector, deputy inspector, chief inspector, or other officer or employee of the State of Delaware in the discharge of any duty provided for in said Chapter, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $10,000 and by imprisonment not less than one year nor more than three years; and any inspector, deputy inspector, chief inspector, or other officer or employee of the State of Delaware authorized to perform any of the duties prescribed by said Chapter who shall accept any money, gift or other thing of value from any person, firm, or corporation, or officers, agents, or employees thereof, given with the intent to influence his official action, or who shall receive or accept from any person, firm, or corporation engaged in intrastate, interstate or foreign commerce any gift, money, or other thing of value, given with any purpose or intent whatsoever, shall be deemed guilty of a felony and shall, upon conviction thereof, be summarily discharged from office and shall be punished by a fine not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000 and by imprisonment not less than one year nor more than three years.
§ 8727. (e) Any person who forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with any person while engaged in or on account of the performance of his official duties under this Chapter shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. Whoever, in the commission of any such acts, uses a deadly or dangerous weapon, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
Section 11. § 8729, Subchapter V, Chapter 87, Title 3, Delaware Code, is hereby amended by striking the period and adding thereafter the following:
", or if the Board determines that such applicant or recipient is unfit to engage in any business requiring inspection because the applicant or recipient, or any one responsibly connected with the applicant or recipient, has been convicted, in any State or Federal court of (1) any felony, or (2) more than one violation of any law, other than a felony, based upon the acquiring, handling or distributing of unwholesome, mislabeled, or deceptively packaged food or upon fraud in connection with transactions in food.
For the purpose of this section, a person shall be deemed to be responsibly connected with the business if he was a partner, officer, director, holder, or owner of 10 per centum or more of its voting stock or an employee in a managerial or executive capacity."
Section 12. Chapter 87, Title 3, Delaware Code, is hereby amended by adding thereto a new Subchapter VII to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER VII. AUXILIARY PROVISIONS
§ 8740. Administrative; detention
Whenever any carcass, part of carcass, meat or meat food product of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines, or any product exempted from the definition of meat food product, or any dead, dying, disabled, or diseased cattle, sheep, swine, goat, or equine is found by any authorized representative of the Board upon any premises where it is held for the purpose of, or during or after distribution in intrastate commerce, and there is reason to believe that any such article is adulterated or misbranded and is capable of use as human food, or that it has not been inspected, in violation of the provisions of this Chapter or of any other State or Federal law, or that such article or animal has been or is intended to be, distributed in violation of any such provisions, it may be detained by such representative for a period not to exceed twenty days, pending action under Section 8741 of this Chapter or notification of any State, Federal, or other governmental authorities having jurisdiction over such article or animal, and shall not be moved by any person, firm, or corporation from the place at which it is located when so detained, until released by such representative. All official marks may be required by such representative to be removed from such article or animal before it is released unless it appears to be to the satisfaction of the Board that the article or animal is eligible to retain such marks.
§ 8141. Seizure or condemnation
(a) Any carcass, part of a carcass, meat or meat food product of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules or other equines, or any dead, dying, disable, or diseased cattle, sheep, swine, goats, or equines, that is being transported in intrastate commerce or otherwise subject to this Chapter or is held for sale in the State of Delaware after such transportation, and that (1) is or has been prepared, sold, transported, or otherwise distributed or offered or received for distribution in violation of this Chapter or (2) is capable of use as human food and is adulterated or misbranded, or (3) in any way is in violation of this Chapter, shall be liable to be proceeded against and seized and condemned, at any time, on a libel of information in any Superior Court of the State of Delaware within the jurisdiction of which the article or animal is found. If the article or animal is condemned, it shall, after entry of the decree, be disposed of by destruction or sale as the Court may direct and the proceeds, if sold, less the court costs and fees, and the storage or other proper expenses, shall be paid into the Treasury of the State of Delaware, but the article or animal shall not be sold contrary to the provisions of this Chapter; provided, that upon the execution and delivery of a good and sufficient bond conditioned that the article or animal shall not be sold or otherwise disposed of contrary to the provisions of this Chapter, or the other laws of the State of Delaware, the court may direct that such article or animal be delivered to the owner thereof subject to such supervision by authorized representatives of the Board as is necessary to insure compliance with the applicable laws. When a decree of condemnation is entered against the article or animal and it is released under bond, or destroyed, court costs and fees, and storage and other proper expenses shall be awarded against the person, if any, intervening as claimant of the article or animal. Either party may demand a trial by jury of any issue of fact joined in any case, and all such proceedings shall be at the suit of and in the name of the State of Delaware.
(b) The provisions of this section shall in no way derogate from authority for condemnation or seizure conferred by other provisions of this Chapter, or other laws.
§ 8742. Jurisdiction
The Superior Court of the State of Delaware shall have jurisdiction specifically to enforce, and to prevent and restrain violations of, this Chapter, and shall have jurisdiction in all other kinds of cases arising under this Chapter.
Approved July 5, 1968.