Okla. Admin. Code § 35:37-9-8

Current through Vol. 42, No. 8, January 2, 2025

Section 35:37-9-8 - Application of inspection provisions

(a) The Oklahoma Rabbit and Rabbit Products Inspection Act shall apply to any person that engages in the business of slaughtering any rabbits or processing, freezing, packaging, or labeling any carcasses, or parts or products of carcasses, of any rabbit, for intrastate commerce, for use as human food or animal food.

(b) The provisions of this Act shall not apply to:

(1) Any person who slaughters rabbits or processes or otherwise handles rabbit products which have been or are to be processed as required by recognized religious dietary laws.

(A) Any person desiring such exemption shall make application to the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry. The application shall be in a form and contain the information as is required by the Board.

(B) The Board may impose conditions as to sanitary standards, practices, and procedures in granting an exemption as it deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of the Oklahoma Rabbit and Rabbit Products Inspection Act. Any person who processes rabbit or rabbit products under exemption from certain requirements as provided in this Section shall be subject to all of the other applicable provisions of the Oklahoma Rabbit and Rabbit Products Inspection Act and the regulations promulgated pursuant thereto.

(C) Processing plants shall meet the sanitary requirements set forth in the Oklahoma Rabbit and Rabbit Products Inspection Act and shall be required to qualify for inspection and operate as official establishments;

(2) Any person who engages in the business of buying or selling, as rabbit products brokers, wholesalers, or otherwise, or transporting, in intrastate commerce, or storing in or for intrastate commerce, any carcasses, or parts or products of carcasses, of any rabbit; or

(3) Any person who engages in business, in or for intrastate commerce, as a renderer, or engages in the business of buying, selling, or transporting, in intrastate commerce, any dead, dying disabled, or diseased rabbit or parts of the carcasses of any rabbit that died otherwise than by slaughter.

(4) Any person who is engaged in business specified in this subsection shall be registered with the Board, in or for intrastate commerce:

(A) as a meat broker, renderer, or animal food manufacturer, or engage in business in commerce as a wholesaler of any carcasses, or parts or products of the carcasses, of any rabbits whether intended for human food or other purposes; or

(B) as a public warehouseman storing any articles in or for commerce, or engage in the business of buying, selling, or transporting in such commerce any dead, dying, disabled, or diseased animals of the specified kinds, or parts of the carcasses of any animals that died otherwise than by slaughter.

(c) The application for registration shall contain the name of such person, address of each place of business and all trade names under which such person conducts such business and such other information deemed necessary by the Board.

(1) Any person, firm, or corporation who is 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 animals that died otherwise than by slaughter, shall buy, sell, transport, offer for sale or transportation, or receive for transportation, in such commerce, any dead, dying, disabled, or diseased rabbits or parts of the carcasses of any such animals that died otherwise than by slaughter, shall comply with such regulations as the Board prescribes to assure that such animals, or the unwholesome parts or products thereof, will be prevented from being used for human food purposes.

(2) On and after September 1, 1989, no rabbit products intended for human food shall be allowed to be sold in this state without:

(A) first being inspected and approved by:

(i) the United States Department of Agriculture, or

(ii) the Oklahoma State Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry; or

(B) having been legally imported into this state pursuant to existing laws of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.

(3) On and after September 1, 1989:

(A) Prior to slaughtering any rabbit or processing any rabbit products at any plant, a person owning or operating such plant shall have the plant approved by the Department.

(B) To receive plant approval, a person shall make application to the State Board of Agriculture. As part of the application, the person shall agree to comply with the terms and conditions of the Oklahoma Rabbit and Rabbit Products Inspection Act and any applicable regulations promulgated thereto.

(C) Prior to any approval, the plant and plant equipment shall be inspected by the Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry.

(D) Upon the approval of the plant and plant equipment by the Department, the plant shall be considered an official plant.

(E) No rabbits affected with any disease transmissible to man shall be slaughtered in any official establishment.

(F) No establishment or plant processing rabbits or rabbit products solely for intrastate commerce shall process any rabbits or rabbit product capable of use as human food except in compliance with the requirements of the Oklahoma Rabbit and Rabbit Products Inspection Acts.

(d) All inspection service shall be performed at all times by an inspector. The service shall be rendered where the facilities and conditions are satisfactory for the conduct of the service and the requisite inspectors are available.

(1) Rabbits that are processed in official plants in accordance with the Oklahoma Rabbit and Rabbit Products Inspection Act shall be inspected.

(2) All rabbits that are slaughtered and processed in an official plant where inspection service is maintained shall be inspected for condition and wholesomeness. No uninspected rabbit products shall be brought into an official plant.

(3) Inspection shall not be provided at any establishment for the slaughter of rabbits which are not intended for human food.

(e) Any rabbit slaughtered or processed that is not intended for use as human food shall be decharacterized or otherwise identified as prescribed by regulations of the Board to deter its use for human food prior to its offer for sale, or transportation in intrastate commerce, unless naturally inedible by humans. Furthermore, 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 rabbits 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 humans.

(f) All persons subject to the provisions of the Oklahoma Rabbit and Rabbit Products Inspection Act shall keep such records as will fully and correctly disclose all transactions involved in their businesses. All persons, subject to such requirements shall, at all reasonable times, upon notice by a duly authorized representative of the Board, afford a representative and any duly authorized representative of the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States accompanied by a representative of the Board access to their places of business and opportunity to examine the facilities, inventory, and records thereof, to copy all records, and to take reasonable samples of their inventory. Any record required to be maintained shall be maintained for two years or as the Board may by regulations prescribe.

(g) On and after September 1, 1989, no person shall:

(1) Slaughter any rabbit or process any rabbit products that are capable of use as human food at any establishment processing any articles solely for intrastate commerce, except in compliance with the requirements of the Oklahoma Rabbit and Rabbit Products Inspection Act; and

(2) Sell, transport, offer for sale or transportation or receive for transportation, in intrastate commerce or from an official establishment, any slaughtered rabbit from which the blood, feet, head, or viscera have not been removed in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Board, except as may be authorized by regulations of the Board.

(h) No person shall:

(1) Sell, transport, offer for sale or transportation, or receive for transportation, in intrastate commerce:

(A) any rabbit products that are capable of use as human food and are adulterated or misbranded at the time of sale, transportation, offer for sale or transportation, or receipt for transportation, or

(B) any rabbit products required to be inspected pursuant to the Oklahoma Rabbit and Rabbit Products Inspection Act unless they have been so inspected and passed;

(2) Perform any act which is intended to cause or has the effect of causing such rabbit or rabbit products to be adulterated or misbranded;

(3) Use to their own advantage, or reveal other than to the authorized representatives of the state government or any other government in their official capacity, or as ordered by a court in any judicial proceedings, any information acquired under the authority of the Oklahoma Rabbit and Rabbit Products Inspection Act concerning any matter which is entitled to protection as a trade secret.

(i) No brand manufacturer, printer, or other person shall cast, print, lithograph, or otherwise make any device containing any official mark or simulation thereof, or any label bearing any such mark simulation, or any form of official certificate or simulation thereof, except as authorized by the Board.

(j) No person shall:

(1) forge any official device, mark, or certificate;

(2) without authorization from the Board use any official device, mark, or certificate, or simulation thereof, or alter, detach, deface, or destroy any official device, mark, or certificate including "Oklahoma Rejected" or "Oklahoma Retained" tags;

(3) Contrary to the regulations prescribed by the Board, fail to use, or to detach, deface, or destroy any official device, mark, or certificate;

(4) Knowingly possess, without promptly notifying the Board or its representative, any official device or any counterfeit, simulated, forged, or improperly altered official certificate or any device or label or any carcass of any rabbit, or part or product thereof, bearing any counterfeit, simulated, forged, or improperly altered official mark;

(k) Any plant approval given pursuant to the Oklahoma Rabbit and Rabbit Products Inspection Act may be suspended by the Department for:

(1) Failure to maintain a plant and equipment in a satisfactory state of repair;

(2) Failure to maintain plant or equipment in a sanitary manner on a continuing basis;

(3) The use of operating procedures that are not in accordance with the Oklahoma Rabbit and Rabbit Products Inspection Act or regulations promulgated thereto;

(4) Alterations of buildings, facilities, or equipment which cannot be approved in accordance with the Oklahoma Rabbit and Rabbit Products Inspection Act or regulations promulgated thereto;

(5) Assault on an agent of the Board; or

(6) Failure to properly denature condemned and inedible materials.

(l) During such period of suspension, inspection service shall not be rendered. Upon suspension of inspection service in an official plant, the plant approval shall also become suspended, and all labels, seals, tags or packaging material bearing official identification shall be destroyed, or the official identification completely obliterated, or sealed in a manner acceptable to the Department.

Okla. Admin. Code § 35:37-9-8

Added at 21 Ok Reg 1181, eff 5-27-04; Amended at 22 Ok Reg 2310, eff 7-11-05