Subject 40-10-4 VOLUNTARY INSPECTION OF NON-TRADITIONAL LIVESTOCK AND NON-TRADITIONAL POULTRY
| (1) |
The definitions
in Rule 40-10-1-.02, not
otherwise defined in this Chapter are incorporated into Chapter 40-10-4. In
addition to those definitions, the following definitions will be applicable to
the regulations in this Chapter.
| (a) |
"Antelope"
means any animal belonging to the antelope family. |
| (b) |
"Applicant" means any interested party who
requests any inspection service. |
| (c) |
"Bison" means any American bison or catalo or cattalo. |
| (d) |
"Buffalo" means any animal belonging to the
buffalo family. |
| (e) |
"Catalo" or
"Cattalo" means any hybrid animal with American bison appearance resulting from
direct crossbreeding of American bison and cattle. |
| (f) |
"Commissioner" means Commissioner of
Agriculture, State of Georgia. |
| (g) |
"Condition" means any condition, including but not limited to, the state of
preservation, cleanliness, or soundness of any product or the processing,
handling, or packaging which may affect such product. |
| (h) |
"Condition and wholesomeness" means the
condition of any product, its healthfulness and fitness for human food. |
| (i) |
"Deer" means any member of the deer family
other than the white-tailed deer. |
| (j) |
"Director" means the Director of the Meat Inspection Program of the Georgia
Department of Agriculture. |
| (k) |
"Elk"
means any American elk. |
| (l) |
"Inspection" means any inspection of a Non-Traditional Livestock and
Non-Traditional Poultry by an inspector to determine, in accordance with Chapter
40-10-1-.02, (1) the condition and
wholesomeness, or (2) the condition and wholesomeness of edible product at any
state of the preparation or packaging in the official plant where inspected, or
(3) the condition and wholesomeness of any previously inspected product if such
product has lost its identity as an inspected and certified product. |
| (m) |
"Non-Traditional Livestock" means the
species of artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates) listed as antelope, bison, buffalo,
catalo, elk, deer other than white-tailed deer, and water buffalo; as well as
members of the Camelidae family listed as camels, llamas and alpacas that are
held and possessed legally under the wild animal provisions of Chapter 5 of Title
27. |
| (n) |
"Non-Traditional Poultry"
means avian species which are grown commercially for slaughter and preparation as
human food, but are not amenable to the Federal Poultry Products Inspection
Act. |
| (o) |
"Program" means the
Non-Traditional Livestock Inspection Program of the State of Georgia. |
| (p) |
"Reindeer" means any reindeer commonly
referred to as caribou. |
| (q) |
"Veterinarian" means any authorized veterinarian of the Program employed by the
Georgia Department of Agriculture who is authorized by the Director to do any
work or perform any duty in connection with the Program. |
| (r) |
"Water buffalo" means any Asiatic water
buffalo, commonly referred to as carabao; and the water buffalo of India,
commonly referred to as the Indian buffalo. |
|
Upon application, in accordance with the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated, the following type of service may be furnished under the
regulations in this Part:
| (a) |
Voluntary
Inspection Service. An inspection service for wholesomeness relating to the
slaughter and processing of Non-Traditional Livestock and Non-Traditional Poultry
and the processing of such products. All provisions of this Chapter shall apply
to the slaughter, the preparation, and labeling of the meat, meat products,
poultry and poultry products processed under this inspection service. |
| (b) |
Only Non-Traditional Livestock and
Non-Traditional Poultry that have had antemortem inspection as described under
this Chapter and which are processed in official establishments in accordance
with this Chapter may be marked inspected and passed. |
| (c) |
To prevent commingling with other species,
all Non-Traditional Livestock meat and meat food products and Non-Traditional
Poultry and Poultry products shall be handled in an official establishment so as
to ensure separation and identity of all products until they are shipped from the
official establishment. |
| (1) |
Any person desiring to process Non-Traditional Livestock, Non-Traditional Poultry
and their related meat food products in an establishment under voluntary
inspection service must receive approval for such establishment and facilities to
slaughter and/or process prior to the rendering of such service. An application
for inspection service to be rendered in an official establishment shall be
submitted in writing. An initial survey of the establishment and signing of the
application by the Director will denote approval. |
| (2) |
Initial survey. When an application has
been filed for inspection service, the State Director or designee shall examine
the establishment, premises, and facilities. |
| (3) |
For new establishments, the requirements in
Rule 40-10-1-.05 must
be complied with. |
| (1) |
Fees and charges for service under the regulations in this Chapter shall be paid
by the applicant for the service in accordance with this section. |
| (2) |
The fees and charges provided for in this
section shall be paid by check, draft or money order payable to the Georgia
Department of Agriculture and shall be remitted promptly to the Director upon
furnishing to the applicant a statement as to the amount due. |
| (3) |
The fees to be charged and collected for
service under the regulations in this Chapter shall be set by the Commissioner.
Charges for Saturdays, Sundays, and official holidays shall be one and one half
times the above stated rate. Such fees shall cover the costs of the service and
shall be charged for the time required to render such service, including, but not
limited to:
| (a) |
The time required for the
travel of the inspector or inspectors in connection therewith during the
regularly scheduled administrative workweek, and |
| (b) |
Charges to cover other expenses incurred by
the Program in connection with the furnishings of the service. |
|
| (4) |
Each recipient of voluntary
inspection service shall be billed in increments of quarter hours. For billing
purposes, eight or more minutes shall be considered a full quarter hour. Billing
will be for each quarter hour of service rendered by each Program
inspector. |
| (5) |
Official
establishments requesting and receiving the services of a Program inspector after
he has completed his day's assignment and left the premises, or called back to
duty during any Saturday, Sunday, or holiday period, shall be billed for a
minimum of 2 hours at the rate as provided for in
40-10-4-.04. |
| (6) |
Bills are payable upon receipt and become
delinquent 30 days from the posting date of the bill. Voluntary inspection
service will not be performed for anyone having a delinquent account. |
Withdrawal of inspection and reports shall be performed in
accordance with the provisions contained within Rule 40-10-5.
The official establishment on behalf of the applicant shall
notify the Director or designee, in advance, of the hours when such inspection is
desired. If one is available at such time, the Director shall assign an inspector
to perform the services available, and shall notify the establishment thereof. If
no inspector is available, the Director shall arrange with the establishment an
alternate time and date. Inspection personnel shall have access at all times to
every part of an official establishment to which they are
assigned.
Reports of the work of inspection carried on within an official
establishment shall be forwarded to the Director by the inspector. The applicant
for such inspection shall furnish to the Director such information as may be
required on forms provided by the Director.
Sanitation shall be in accordance with the provisions contained
in Rule 40-10-1-.10.
| (1) |
An ante-mortem inspection of Non-Traditional Livestock and/ or Non-Traditional
Poultry shall be made to the extent considered necessary by the Director and
under such instructions as may be issued from time to time by the Director.
Ante-mortem inspection will be performed on the day of slaughter.
| (a) |
Humane handling of Non-Traditional
Livestock and Non- Traditional Poultry during ante-mortem inspection shall be in
accordance with the provisions contained in Rule
40-10-1-.15.
| 1. |
Non-Traditional Livestock and
Non-Traditional Poultry that in the ante-mortem inspector's opinion do not pass
ante-mortem inspection must be withheld from slaughter. |
| 2. |
Stunning to render the Non-Traditional
Livestock unconscious shall be in accordance with Rule
40-10-1-.15. |
| 3. |
Ante-mortem cards (Form MID SL 104) shall be
filled out for Non-Traditional Livestock by the ante-mortem inspector. One copy
shall be retained by the ante-mortem inspector. |
| 4. |
Ante-mortem inspection shall be performed in
pens for Non- Traditional Livestock and as per the provisions of the Code of
Federal Regulations 9 CFR, Chapter 3, Part 381 for Non-Traditional Poultry at
official establishments. |
|
|
| (1) |
Post-mortem inspection of the Non-Traditional Livestock shall be conducted in
accordance with the provisions as determined by the Director. |
| (2) |
Post-mortem inspection of the
Non-Traditional Poultry shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of
the Code of Federal Regulations, 9 CFR, Part 381, as determined by the
Director. |
| (3) |
The post-mortem
examination must occur on the day of slaughter. |
| (4) |
A veterinarian shall inspect and make the
disposition of all animals identified as "Georgia Suspect." |
Handling and disposal of condemned or other inedible products
at official establishments shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions
contained in Rule
40-10-1-.16.
Labeling, marking devices, containers, and official legends use
shall be conducted in accordance with Rules
40-10-1-.14,
40-10-1-.18, and
40-10-1-.19. Uniform terminology
recognized nationally for fresh cuts, fresh products, and heat-processed products
will be used on approved labels.
Wording and form of inspection mark applied to inspected and
passed Non-Traditional Livestock carcasses, meat or meat food products under this
part shall be approved by the Director. Except as otherwise authorized by the
Director, the inspection mark will include the following wording: ``Inspected and
Passed by the Georgia Department of Agriculture'' contained within an equiangular
triangle along with the establishment number of the official establishment. The
Director may approve the use of abbreviations or other exceptions of the
inspection mark. Ordering and manufacture of the triangle brand shall be with
approval by the Director. The approved inspection mark shall be applied under the
supervision of the inspector to the inspected and passed edible product,
packaging material, immediate container or shipping container.
Entry into official establishments, reinspection and
preparation of products shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions
contained in Rule
40-10-1-.20.
Records, registration, and reports shall be conducted or
maintained in accordance with the provisions contained in Rule
40-10-1-.22.
License and hearing provisions shall be conducted in accordance
with the provisions contained in Rule
40-10-1-.23.
Seizure, condemnation and criminal offenses, shall be in
accordance with the provisions contained in Rule 40-10-1-.31 .
