2013 Maryland Code
AGRICULTURE
§ 4-123 - Prohibited acts

§4-123.

No person may commit or cause the commission of any of the following acts:

(1) Slaughtering livestock or preparing any livestock carcass, part of it, or meat food product in any establishment operating solely for intrastate commerce, without obtaining a license;

(2) Selling, donating, transporting, or offering or receiving for sale or transportation in intrastate commerce:

(i) Any livestock carcass, part of it, or meat food product, unless the article has been inspected to assure it is not adulterated or misbranded pursuant to the provisions of this subtitle or the Federal Meat Inspection Act; or

(ii) Any article capable of use as human food which is adulterated or misbranded at the time of sale, donation, transportation or offer or receipt for sale or transportation;

(3) Doing any act that is intended to cause any livestock carcass, part of it, or meat food product capable of use as human food to be adulterated or misbranded while the article is transported in intrastate commerce or is held for sale or donation after transportation;

(4) Selling, donating, transporting, or offering or receiving for sale or transportation in intrastate commerce any equine carcass, part of it, or meat or meat food products of any equine, unless it is plainly and conspicuously marked or labeled, or otherwise identified, as required by departmental rules and regulations, to show the kind of animals from which the article is derived;

(5) Buying, selling, transporting, or offering or receiving for sale or transportation in intrastate commerce any livestock carcass, part of it, meat or meat food product not intended for use as human food unless it is denatured, naturally inedible by humans, or otherwise identified to deter its use as human food as required by regulation;

(6) Labeling or selling hamburger, chopped or ground beef as “all beef” or “all meat” if the product contains more than 30 percent of fat, but the product may contain seasoning not in excess of condimental qualities;

(7) Labeling or selling any hamburger, chopped or ground beef mixed with poultry, pork, or other meat products, unless the content of all meats mixed with the beef prominently appears on the labeling of the package before the content of the beef is stated;

(8) Casting, printing, lithographing, or otherwise making any device containing any official mark, or simulation, or any label bearing an official mark or simulation, or any form of official certificate, or simulation, except as authorized by the Secretary;

(9) Forging any official device, mark, or certificate;

(10) Using any official device, mark, or certificate, or simulation of any of them, or altering, detaching, defacing, or destroying any official device, mark, or certificate without the Secretary’s authorization; failing to use, detach, deface, or destroy, any official device, mark, or certificate in violation of the departmental rules and regulations;

(11) Knowingly possessing, without promptly notifying the Secretary:

(i) Any official device;

(ii) Any counterfeit, simulated, forged, or improperly altered official certificate; or

(iii) Any device, label, or any animal carcass, part or product of it, bearing any counterfeit, simulated, forged, or improperly altered official mark;

(12) Knowingly making any false statement in any shipper’s certificate or other nonofficial or official certificate provided by the departmental regulations;

(13) Knowingly and falsely representing that any article has been inspected and passed or exempted under this subtitle;

(14) Neglecting or refusing to attend and testify or to answer any lawful inquiry, or to produce documentary evidence, if a person has the power to do so, in obedience to a Department subpoena;

(15) Willfully making any false entry or statement of fact in any report required by this subtitle or willfully making any false entry in any record kept by any person subject to this subtitle;

(16) Failing to file any report, required by the Secretary, within the required time or failing to keep any record required by § 4-120 of this subtitle;

(17) Refusing to permit the Secretary access at any reasonable time, to the premises, facilities, inventory, or records of any establishment at which livestock are slaughtered, or the carcasses, parts of them, or meat food products are prepared, or refusing to permit the Secretary to copy any records required by § 4-120 of this subtitle;

(18) Assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating, or interfering with any person while engaged in, or on account of, the performance of his official duties under this subtitle;

(19) Giving or paying anything of value to any person employed to perform any official duties under this subtitle; or

(20) Receiving by any person, employed to perform any official duties under this subtitle, anything of value, given or paid by any person, to influence his official actions.

§ 4-123 - 1. Inhumane slaughter of livestock

(a) Definitions. --

(1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.

(2) (i) "Humane method" means:

1. A method by which livestock are rendered insensible to pain, by a single blow or gunshot, or by an electrical, chemical, or other rapid and effective means, before being shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut; or

2. Ritual slaughter.

(ii) "Humane method" does not include the use of a manually operated hammer, sledge, or poleax during a slaughtering operation.

(3) (i) "Livestock" means cattle, calves, sheep, swine, horses, mules, goats, or other animals that may be used in the preparation of a meat product.

(ii) "Livestock" does not include poultry or other fowl.

(4) "Packer" means a person who is engaged in the business of:

(i) Slaughtering; or

(ii) Manufacturing or preparing a meat or livestock product for sale.

(5) "Ritual slaughter" means a method of slaughter by which livestock suffer loss of consciousness by anemia of the brain caused by simultaneous and instantaneous severance of the carotid arteries with a sharp instrument in accordance with ritual requirements of a religious faith.

(6) "Slaughterer" means a person who is regularly engaged in the commercial slaughtering of livestock.

(7) "Stockyard" means a facility, consisting of pens, other enclosures, and appurtenances, operated for compensation or profit as a public market to handle, keep, and hold livestock for sale or shipment.

(b) Declaration of policy. -- It is the policy of the State to prevent inhumane methods of livestock slaughter at an official establishment.

(c) Rules of construction. -- This section may not be construed to:

(1) Prohibit or limit the religious freedom of a person;

(2) Apply to a farmer while slaughtering livestock of the farmer; or

(3) Apply to ritual slaughter.

(d) Prohibited. -- A slaughterer, packer, or stockyard operator may not, unless by a humane method:

(1) Shackle, hoist, or otherwise bring livestock into position for slaughter; or

(2) Bleed or slaughter livestock.

(e) Inspection. -- The Secretary shall inspect the handling of livestock in connection with slaughtering in an official establishment.

(f) Penalty. --

(1) A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to a fine not exceeding $ 100 for each violation.

(2) In addition to the penalty under paragraph (1) of this subsection, the Secretary may refuse to provide or may suspend temporarily inspection services for an establishment that violates this section with respect to the slaughter of livestock.