2016 North Dakota Century Code Title 36 Livestock Chapter 36-24 Meat Inspection
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CHAPTER 36-24
MEAT INSPECTION
36-24-01. Definitions.
In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Adulterated" means a whole carcass, part of a carcass, or meat food product:
a. That bears or contains a poisonous or harmful substance that may render it
injurious to health;
b. That bears or contains a chemical pesticide that is unsafe under the federal Food,
Drug, and Cosmetic Act [21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.];
c. That bears or contains a food or color additive that is unsafe under the federal
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act [21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.];
d. That contains a filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance or is for any other reason
unfit for human food;
e. That has been prepared, packed, or held under unsanitary conditions;
f. That is wholly or partly the product of an animal that has died in a manner other
than slaughter;
g. The container of which is wholly or partly composed of a poisonous or harmful
substance that may make the contents harmful to health;
h. That has been intentionally subjected to radiation, unless the use of the radiation
conformed with a regulation or exemption in effect under the federal Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act [21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.];
i. That is damaged or inferior and that damage or inferiority has been concealed; or
j. That has had a substance added to it or mixed or packed with it so as to increase
its bulk or weight, or make it appear better than or of greater value than it is.
2. "Animal" includes cattle, swine, sheep, goats, farmed cervidae, llama, horses, equines,
other large domesticated animals, and poultry.
3. "Commissioner" means the agriculture commissioner.
4. "Container" includes a can, pot, tin, canvas, or other receptacle containing a meat food
product.
5. "Custom processing" means slaughtering, eviscerating, dressing, or processing an
animal or processing meat products for the owner of the animal or of the meat
products, if all meat products derived from the custom operation are returned to the
owner of the animal or of the meat products.
6. "Intrastate commerce" means commerce within this state.
7. "Meat food product" means a product usable as human food and made wholly or in
part from meat or a portion of an animal carcass. The term does not include any
product that contains meat or other portions of the carcasses of animals in a relatively
small proportion or which historically have not been considered by consumers as a
product of the meat food industry, and which is not represented as a meat food
product.
8. "Poultry" includes domesticated chickens, ducks, geese, pheasants, quail, ratites, and
turkeys.
9. "Prepared" means slaughtered, canned, salted, rendered, boned, cut up, or otherwise
manufactured or processed.
36-24-02. Inspectors - Appointments - Duties.
1. The commissioner shall appoint inspectors to examine and inspect meat food products
prepared solely for intrastate commerce in a slaughtering, meat canning, salting,
packing, or similar establishment. The inspections must take place at any time during
which the slaughtering of animals or the preparation of food products is being
conducted. Upon completing an inspection, the inspector shall mark, stamp, tag, or
label the product "North Dakota inspected and passed" if it is unadulterated or as
"North Dakota inspected and condemned" if the product is found to be adulterated.
2. The commissioner shall appoint inspectors to examine and inspect each slaughtering,
meat canning, salting, packing, or similar establishment in which meat food products
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are prepared solely for intrastate commerce. The commissioner shall adopt rules of
sanitation applicable to these establishments. If any facility does not meet the sanitary
conditions required by the commissioner, the commissioner may not allow any meat
food product from that facility to be labeled, marked, stamped, or tagged as "North
Dakota inspected and passed".
Meat food products inspected and passed under this chapter may be sold at retail in
this state.
Neither the commissioner, nor any inspector appointed by the commissioner, may
undertake any activity that is duplicative of an activity performed by meat inspectors of
the United States department of agriculture.
36-24-03. Access by inspectors - Penalty.
1. The commissioner and any authorized representative of the commissioner have
access to:
a. Any place where food or any other product, the manufacture, sale, use, or
transportation of which is restricted, regulated, or prohibited by a law of this state,
is or may be manufactured, prepared, stored, sold, used, transported, offered for
sale or transportation, or possessed with intent to use, sell, or transport;
b. Any place where an animal is pastured or stabled;
c. Any car or other carriage used to transport a meat food product or an animal;
d. Any place where food is or may be cooked, prepared, sold, or kept for sale to or
for the public or distributed as a part of the compensation of an employee or
agent; and
e. Any place where a meat food product may be manufactured, sold, used, offered
for sale or transportation, or possessed with intent to use, sell, or transport.
2. The commissioner and any authorized representative of the commissioner may
inspect any container believed to hold food, a food ingredient, or some other product,
the manufacture, use, sale, or transportation of which is restricted, regulated, or
forbidden by state law, and may take samples from it for analysis.
3. It is a class A misdemeanor for any person to obstruct entry or inspection under this
chapter or to fail, upon request, to assist in an inspection authorized by this chapter.
36-24-04. Marks and labels.
1. If a meat food product which is inspected and marked "North Dakota inspected and
passed" is being placed or packed in a container, the person preparing the product
shall attach to the container, under supervision of an inspector, a label indicating that
the product has been "North Dakota inspected and passed". An inspection under this
chapter is not complete until the product has been sealed or enclosed in the container,
under the supervision of an inspector.
2. A meat food product inspected under this chapter and found not to be adulterated
must bear, directly or on its container, a legible label or official mark as required by the
commissioner.
3. The commissioner shall prescribe by rule the style and size of type to be used in
labeling meat under this chapter and standards of identity, composition, and fill of
container for meat food products inspected under this chapter, but the standards must
be consistent with those established under federal law.
36-24-05. False or misleading marks, labels, and containers.
A person may not sell in intrastate commerce any meat food product subject to inspection
under this chapter under a name, mark, or label which is false or misleading, or in a container of
a misleading form or size. If the commissioner has reason to believe that a mark, label, or
container is false or misleading, the commissioner may direct that its use be withheld unless the
mark, label, or container is modified in a manner approved by the commissioner. If the person
using or proposing to use the mark, label, or container does not accept the determination of the
commissioner, the person may request a hearing. The commissioner may direct that the mark,
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label, or container not be used pending a hearing and final determination by the commissioner.
A determination by the commissioner is conclusive unless the person adversely affected
appeals to the district court within thirty days after receiving the notice of final determination.
36-24-06. Prohibitions.
A person may not:
1. Slaughter an animal or prepare an article usable as human food at any establishment
preparing articles solely for intrastate commerce, unless the person complies with this
chapter;
2. Sell, transport, offer for sale or transportation, or receive for transportation, in intrastate
commerce any article that is usable as human food and which is adulterated or
misbranded or any article that has not been inspected and passed under this chapter;
or
3. Alter an article that is usable as human food while the article is being transported in
intrastate commerce or held for sale after transportation, if the alteration is intended to
cause or has the effect of causing the article to be adulterated or misbranded.
36-24-07. Official marks and certificates - Required authorization.
A person may not:
1. Cast, print, or otherwise make a device containing an official mark, simulation of an
official mark, label bearing a mark or simulation, or form of official certificate or
simulation, without authorization from the commissioner;
2. Forge an official device, mark, or certificate;
3. Use a real or simulated official device, mark, or certificate, or alter, detach, deface, or
destroy an official device, mark, or certificate, without authorization from the
commissioner;
4. Fail to use an official device, mark, or certificate if appropriate;
5. Knowingly possess, without promptly notifying the commissioner, a counterfeit,
simulated, forged, or improperly altered official certificate, device, or label, or a whole
carcass or part of a carcass bearing a counterfeit, simulated, forged, or improperly
altered official mark;
6. Knowingly make a false statement in a certificate; or
7. Knowingly represent falsely that an article has been inspected and passed, or
exempted, under this chapter.
36-24-08. Horse meat - Requirements.
A person may not sell, transport, offer for sale or transportation, or receive for transportation
in intrastate commerce whole carcasses or parts of carcasses of horses, mules, or other
equines or meat food products derived from them, unless they are plainly and conspicuously
marked, labeled, or otherwise identified to show the kinds of animals from which they were
derived. The commissioner by rule may require that the preparation of whole equine carcasses,
parts of equine carcasses, and equine meat food products take place in establishments
separate from those in which cattle, sheep, swine, or goats are slaughtered or in which their
carcasses, parts of their carcasses, or meat food products are prepared.
36-24-09. Bribery.
A person may not give or receive anything of value to influence the performance of an
inspector under this chapter.
36-24-10. Individual and custom processing - Exemption from inspection
requirements.
1. This chapter does not apply to an individual processing the individual's own animals
and the individual's preparation and transportation in intrastate commerce of the whole
carcasses, parts of carcasses, and meat food products provided the animals are for
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the exclusive use of the individual, members of the individual's household, the
individual's nonpaying guests, and employees.
The provisions of this chapter requiring inspection of the slaughter of animals, the
preparation of the carcasses and parts thereof, and meat and meat food products at
establishments conducting such operations do not apply to the custom processing by
a person of animals delivered by the owner for processing, and the preparation or
transportation in intrastate commerce of the whole carcasses, parts of carcasses, and
meat food products of the animals, provided that the products are to be used
exclusively in the household of the animal's owner by the owner and members of the
owner's household, nonpaying guests, and employees.
A custom processor may not engage in the business of buying or selling whole
carcasses, parts of carcasses, or meat food products of animals, other than poultry,
usable as human food unless the whole carcasses, parts of carcasses, or meat food
products have been inspected and passed and are identified as inspected and passed
by the commissioner or the United States department of agriculture.
The provisions of this chapter requiring inspection of the preparation of poultry
carcasses and parts thereof, and poultry food products at establishments conducting
those operations do not apply to any retailer with respect to poultry products sold in
commerce directly to consumers in an individual retail store, provided that the retailer
does not engage in the business of custom slaughter, and provided that the poultry
products sold in commerce are derived from poultry inspected and passed by the
commissioner or the United States department of agriculture.
36-24-11. Storing and handling conditions.
The commissioner shall adopt rules regarding the manner in which all whole carcasses,
parts of carcasses, and meat food products of animals usable as human food and subject to this
chapter must be stored, handled, and transported.
36-24-12. Articles not intended as human food.
The commissioner may not provide inspection under this chapter at an establishment for the
slaughter of animals or the preparation of carcasses or parts or products of animals which are
not intended for use as human food. Before these articles are offered for sale or transportation
in intrastate commerce, they must be denatured or otherwise identified, as prescribed by rules
of the commissioner, to deter their use for human food, unless they are naturally inedible by
humans. A person may not buy, sell, transport, offer for sale or transportation, or receive for
transportation, in intrastate commerce, any carcasses, parts of carcasses, or meat food
products of animals which are not intended for use as human food, unless the articles are
denatured or otherwise identified.
36-24-13. Records.
The following persons shall keep records that fully and accurately disclose the transactions
described:
1. A person in the business of slaughtering animals or preparing, freezing, packaging, or
labeling animal carcasses, parts, or products of carcasses for use as human or animal
food.
2. A person buying, selling, transporting, or storing animal carcasses or parts or products
of animal carcasses.
3. A person rendering or buying, selling, or transporting dead, dying, disabled, or
diseased animals or parts of the carcasses of animals that died other than by
slaughter.
36-24-14. Records - Examination.
Upon notice by the commissioner, any person subject to the recordkeeping requirements of
this chapter shall give the commissioner and the United States department of agriculture access
to the person's place of business at all reasonable times and an opportunity to examine the
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facilities, inventory, and records of the business, to copy business records, and to take
reasonable samples of the person's inventory upon payment of the fair market value of the
samples.
36-24-15. Records - Retention.
Any person subject to the recordkeeping requirements of this chapter shall maintain the
records for the period prescribed by the commissioner.
36-24-16. Registration of business.
A person may not engage in intrastate business as a meat broker, renderer, or animal food
manufacturer; a wholesaler of animal carcasses, carcass parts or products of carcasses,
intended for human food or other purposes; a public warehouse operator storing carcasses or
parts of carcasses of animals in or for intrastate commerce; or a buyer, seller, or transporter of
dead, dying, disabled, or diseased animals, or parts of the carcasses of animals that died other
than by slaughter, unless the person first provides the commissioner with the person's name,
the address of each place of business under which the person conducts business, and all trade
names under which the person conducts business.
36-24-17. Dead, dying, disabled, or diseased animals - Rules.
The commissioner shall adopt rules to ensure that dead, dying, disabled, or diseased
animals are not used as human food.
36-24-18. Cooperation with federal government.
The commissioner shall cooperate with the United States department of agriculture to
develop and administer the state meat inspection program provided for under this chapter and
to ensure that its requirements are at least equal to those imposed by federal law. The
commissioner may accept, from the United States department of agriculture, advice and
assistance in planning and otherwise developing the state meat inspection program; technical
and laboratory assistance and training, including necessary curricular and instructional materials
and equipment; and financial and other assistance for the administration of the program.
36-24-19. Refusal or withdrawal of inspection.
1. For the length of time the commissioner considers necessary to carry out the purposes
of this chapter, the commissioner may refuse to provide, or withdraw, inspection
services from an establishment if after a hearing the commissioner determines that the
recipient or potential recipient is unfit to engage in any business requiring inspection
under this chapter because the recipient, potential recipient, or anyone responsibly
connected with the recipient or potential recipient has been convicted of:
a. An offense determined by the commissioner to have a direct bearing on the
person's ability to serve the public in a business requiring inspection under this
chapter, or the commissioner determines the person is not sufficiently
rehabilitated under section 12.1-33-02.1;
b. More than one violation of a law based on the acquisition, handling, or distributing
of unwholesome, mislabeled, or deceptively packaged food; or
c. Fraud in connection with transactions involving food.
2. For the purpose of this section anyone responsibly connected with a business means
an individual who is a partner, officer, director, holder, or owner of ten percent or more
of its voting stock or an employee in a managerial or executive capacity.
36-24-20. Detention of animals or products.
If an inspector finds a whole carcass, part of a carcass, or meat food product, a product
exempted from the definition of a meat food product, or a dead, dying, disabled, or diseased
animal on premises where it is held for purposes of, during, or after distribution in intrastate
commerce, and the inspector reasonably believes that the article is adulterated or misbranded
and is usable as human food, or that it has not been inspected, in violation of this chapter or
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federal law, or that the article or animal has been or is intended to be distributed in violation of
this chapter or federal law, the inspector may detain the article for up to twenty days pending a
hearing or notification of federal authorities having jurisdiction over the article or animal. The
article may not be moved by any person from the place at which it was located when detained,
until released by the commissioner. The commissioner may require all official marks to be
removed from the article or animal before it is released unless the commissioner is satisfied that
the article or animal is eligible to retain the official marks.
36-24-21. Seizure and condemnation.
The commissioner may initiate action to seize and condemn a whole carcass, part of a
carcass, or meat food product, or a dead, dying, disabled, or diseased animal that is being
transported in intrastate commerce, or is held for sale in this state after transportation in
intrastate commerce if:
1. The article is or has been prepared, sold, transported, or otherwise distributed or
offered or received for distribution in violation of this chapter;
2. The article is usable as human food and is adulterated or misbranded; or
3. The article is in any other way violative of this chapter.
36-24-22. Sale of condemned items.
If an article or animal is condemned, it must be disposed of by destruction or sale, as
directed by a court. If it is sold, the proceeds must be paid to the state, less the court costs,
fees, storage, and reasonable expenses, but the article or animal must not be sold contrary to
this chapter or federal law. If a bond is delivered conditioned that the article or animal not be
sold or otherwise disposed of contrary to this chapter or federal law, the court may direct that
the article or animal be delivered to its owner subject to supervision by the commissioner.
36-24-23. Types of proceedings - Award of costs.
If a decree of condemnation is entered against an article or animal and it is released under
bond or destroyed, a court may award costs, fees, storage, and other reasonable expenses
against any person intervening as a claimant of the article or animal. Either party to a
proceeding may demand trial by jury of any issue of fact joined in the case, and all proceedings
must be in the name of the state. Nothing in this section changes the authority for condemnation
or seizure otherwise conferred by law.
36-24-24. Powers of commissioner.
For the purposes of this chapter, the commissioner may:
1. Gather and compile information concerning and investigate the organization, business,
conduct, practices, and management of a person in intrastate commerce and the
person's relation to other persons.
2. Require that a person engaged in intrastate commerce file with the commissioner, in
the form and manner prescribed by the commissioner, annual and special reports or
written answers to specific questions, giving the commissioner the information the
commissioner requires about the organization, business, conduct, practices,
management, and relation to other persons, of the person filing the reports or answers.
3. Examine and copy documentary evidence of a person being investigated or being
proceeded against. A person may not refuse to submit to the commissioner, for
inspection and copying, any documentary evidence of a person subject to this chapter
in the person's possession or control.
4. A person required by this chapter to file an annual or special report may not fail to do
so within the time fixed by the commissioner, and continue the failure for thirty days
after notice of failure to file.
5. Adopt rules to implement this chapter, including establishing inspection fees for
providing inspection services under this chapter.
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36-24-25. Interstate shipment.
Meat and meat products inspected under this chapter may be shipped in interstate
commerce when federal law permits state-inspected meat and meat products to be marketed
interstate.
36-24-26. Penalties.
1. A person who violates a provision of this chapter is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
2. A person willfully violating this chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter is subject
to a civil penalty not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars for each violation. The civil
penalty may be imposed by a court or by the agriculture commissioner in an
administrative proceeding.
3. Imposing a penalty allowed in subsection 1 or 2 does not preclude the commissioner
from seeking to impose other sanctions or from seeking other remedies for violation of
this chapter or rules adopted under this chapter.
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