HCS HB 1747 -- ANIMAL AGRICULTURE (Viebrock)

COMMITTEE OF ORIGIN:  Committee on Agriculture Policy

This substitute requires any person operating an establishment in
which horse meat is processed or sold, exposed, or offered for
sale at wholesale for human consumption to annually register with
the Department of Agriculture.  The applicant must file an
application for a certificate of registration which is to include
certain specified information as required by the department
director and the Federal Meat Inspection Act.  The department
director may refuse to issue, revoke, or suspend a registration
if the establishment fails to comply with the provisions of the
substitute or the federal act after the applicant has been given
an opportunity to be heard by the department director in regard
to the refusal, suspension, or revocation.

An annual registration fee of $50 and an inspection fee to cover
the inspection costs based on the number of horses processed must
be paid to the department director with the application.  All
fees collected will be deposited into the newly created Horse
Meat and Product Fund to pay for the administrative costs
associated with the provisions of the substitute including, but
not limited to, the payment of United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) inspections.

Establishments registered by the department are prohibited from:

(1)  Selling, offering, or exposing for sale any horse meat,
product, or carcass without the required labeling specified in
the substitute;

(2)  Defacing, altering, or removing a required identification
label or a USDA inspection impression made by a stamp on the
horse carcass, meat, or meat product;

(3)  Selling horse meat, products, or carcasses deemed by a USDA
inspection as adulterated, misbranded, or unfit for human
consumption;

(4)  Operating or maintaining an establishment in an unsanitary
manner;

(5)  Selling certain specified horse parts or parts of a horse
included in a horse meat food product intended for human
consumption;

(6)  Mixing horse meat with any other animal meat and selling,
offering, or exposing it for sale for human consumption; and

(7)  Placing horse meat or a horse meat product which is intended
to be sold for pet food in a refrigerated compartment with food
for human consumption.

Establishments registered with the department are required to:

(1)  Provide access at all reasonable times to the department
director and the USDA for the inspection of any premise in which
any horse carcass, horse meat, or horse meat product is
processed, packed, transported, sold, exposed, or offered for
sale at wholesale;

(2)  Provide samples or specimens of horse meat, products, or
carcasses to determine whether there has been a violation of USDA
inspection regulations, the federal act, or department rules or
if a violation exists;

(3)  Decharacterize with charcoal or green food dye any horse
meat, horse meat food product, or carcass that is not labeled as
to use or is labeled as pet food except horse meat or a product
that is individually packaged in hermetically sealed packages and
labeled as pet food; and

(4)  Maintain certain wholesale records of any horse meat or
carcass sold for one year from the date of the sale and make the
records available to the department director for inspection
during regular business hours.

Possession of any unlabeled horse meat, product, or carcass will
constitute prima facie evidence that the commodity is for sale
unless the person has legally purchased the commodity for his or
her personal consumption.

The Attorney General or prosecuting attorney must institute
prosecution proceedings against the defendant in the county in
which the defendant resides, where his or her registered business
is located, or where the violation occurred upon a report of
violation by the department director.  Anyone violating the
provisions of the substitute will be guilty of a class A
misdemeanor for the first offense and a class D felony for any
subsequent offense.

The substitute also affirms the right of Missouri citizens to
raise domesticated animals and captive raised fish and game birds
in a humane manner without the state imposing an undue economic
burden on their owners.  No state law criminalizing or regulating
crops or the welfare of animals will be valid unless based upon
the most current industry standard and generally accepted
scientific principles and enacted by the General Assembly.

FISCAL NOTE:  No impact on state funds in FY 2011, FY 2012, and
FY 2013.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:11 pm