
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 21USC454]

 
                        TITLE 21--FOOD AND DRUGS
 
           CHAPTER 10--POULTRY AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION
 
Sec. 454. Federal and State cooperation in development and 
        administration of State poultry product inspection programs
        

(a) State laws; planning, technical and financial assistance; advisory 
        committees

    It is the policy of the Congress to protect the consuming public 
from poultry products that are adulterated or misbranded and to assist 
in efforts by State and other government agencies to accomplish this 
objective. In furtherance of this policy--
        (1) The Secretary is authorized, whenever he determines that it 
    would effectuate the purposes of this chapter, to cooperate with the 
    appropriate State agency in developing and administering a State 
    poultry product inspection program in any State which has enacted a 
    mandatory State poultry product inspection law that imposes ante 
    mortem and post mortem inspection, reinspection and sanitation 
    requirements that are at least equal to those under this chapter, 
    with respect to all or certain classes of persons engaged in the 
    State in slaughtering poultry or processing poultry products for use 
    as human food solely for distribution within such State.
        (2) The Secretary is further authorized, whenever he determines 
    that it would effectuate the purposes of this chapter, to cooperate 
    with appropriate State agencies in developing and administering 
    State programs under State laws containing authorities at least 
    equal to those provided in section 460 of this title; and to 
    cooperate with other agencies of the United States in carrying out 
    any provisions of this chapter. In carrying out the provisions of 
    this chapter, the Secretary may conduct such examinations, 
    investigations, and inspections as he determines practicable through 
    any officer or employee of any State or Territory or the District of 
    Columbia commissioned by the Secretary for such purpose.
        (3) Cooperation with State agencies under this section may 
    include furnishing to the appropriate State agency (i) advisory 
    assistance in planning and otherwise developing an adequate State 
    program under the State law; and (ii) technical and laboratory 
    assistance and training (including necessary curricular and 
    instructional materials and equipment), and financial and other aid 
    for administration of such a program. The amount to be contributed 
    to any State by the Secretary under this section from Federal funds 
    for any year shall not exceed 50 per centum of the estimated total 
    cost of the cooperative program; and the Federal funds shall be 
    allocated among the States desiring to cooperate on an equitable 
    basis. Such cooperation and payment shall be contingent at all times 
    upon the administration of the State program in a manner which the 
    Secretary, in consultation with the appropriate advisory committee 
    appointed under subparagraph (4), deems adequate to effectuate the 
    purposes of this section.
        (4) The Secretary may appoint advisory committees consisting of 
    such representatives of appropriate State agencies as the Secretary 
    and the State agencies may designate to consult with him concerning 
    State and Federal programs with respect to poultry product 
    inspection and other matters within the scope of this chapter, 
    including evaluating State programs for purposes of this chapter, 
    and obtaining better coordination and more uniformity among the 
    State programs and between the Federal and State programs and 
    adequate protection of consumers.

(b) Appropriate State agency; performance of functions by subordinate 
        governmental unit

    The appropriate State agency with which the Secretary may cooperate 
under this chapter shall be a single agency in the State which is 
primarily responsible for the coordination of the State programs having 
objectives similar to those under this chapter. When the State program 
includes performance of certain functions by a municipality or other 
subordinate governmental unit, such unit shall be deemed to be a part of 
the State agency for purposes of this section.

(c) Intrastate activities; designation of State for regulation; 
        publication of designation; exempted operations; termination of 
        designation; review of operations in nondesignated States; 
        annual report

    (1) If the Secretary has reason to believe, by thirty days prior to 
the expiration of two years after August 18, 1968, that a State has 
failed to develop or is not enforcing, with respect to all 
establishments within its jurisdiction (except those that would be 
exempted from Federal inspection under subparagraph (2) of this 
paragraph (c)) at which poultry are slaughtered, or poultry products are 
processed for use as human food, solely for distribution within such 
State, and the products of such establishments, requirements at least 
equal to those imposed under sections 451 to 453, 455 to 459, 461 to 
467d of this title, he shall promptly notify the Governor of the State 
of this fact. If the Secretary determines, after consultation with the 
Governor of the State, or representative selected by him, that such 
requirements have not been developed and activated, he shall promptly 
after the expiration of such two-year period designate such State as one 
in which the provisions of said sections of this chapter shall apply to 
operations and transactions wholly within such State: Provided, That if 
the Secretary has reason to believe that the State will activate such 
requirements within one additional year, he may delay such designation 
for said period, and not designate the State, if he determines at the 
end of the year that the State then has such requirements in effective 
operation. The Secretary shall publish any such designation in the 
Federal Register and, upon the expiration of thirty days after such 
publication, the provisions of said sections of this chapter shall apply 
to operations and transactions and to persons engaged therein in the 
State to the same extent and in the same manner as if such operations 
and transactions were conducted in or for commerce. However, 
notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if the Secretary 
determines that any establishment within a State is producing 
adulterated poultry products for distribution within such State which 
would clearly endanger the public health he shall notify the Governor of 
the State and the appropriate advisory committee provided for by 
subparagraph (a)(4) of this section of such fact for effective action 
under State or local law. If the State does not take action to prevent 
such endangering of the public health within a reasonable time after 
such notice, as determined by the Secretary, in light of the risk to 
public health, the Secretary may forthwith designate any such 
establishment as subject to the provisions of said sections of this 
chapter, and thereupon the establishment and operator thereof shall be 
subject to such provisions as though engaged in commerce until such time 
as the Secretary determines that such State has developed and will 
enforce requirements at least equal to those imposed under said 
sections.
    (2) The provisions of this chapter requiring inspection of the 
slaughter of poultry and the processing of poultry products shall not 
apply to operations of types traditionally and usually conducted at 
retail stores and restaurants, when conducted at any retail store or 
restaurant or similar retail-type establishment for sale in normal 
retail quantities or service of such articles to consumers at such 
establishments if such establishment are subject to such inspection 
provisions only under this paragraph (c). For the purposes of this 
subparagraph, operations conducted at a restaurant central kitchen 
facility shall be considered as being conducted at a restaurant if the 
restaurant central kitchen prepares poultry products that are ready to 
eat when they leave such facility and are served in meals or as entrees 
only to customers at restaurants owned or operated by the same person 
owning or operating such facility: Provided, That such facility shall be 
subject to the provisions of section 460(b) of this title: Provided 
further, That the facility may be subject to the inspection requirements 
of this chapter for as long as the Secretary deems necessary, if the 
Secretary determines that the sanitary conditions or practices of the 
facility or the processing procedures or methods at the facility are 
such that any of its poultry products are rendered adulterated.
    (3) Whenever the Secretary determines that any State designated 
under this paragraph (c) has developed and will enforce State poultry 
products inspection requirements at least equal to those imposed under 
the aforesaid sections of this chapter, with respect to the operations 
and transactions within such State which are regulated under 
subparagraph (1) of this paragraph (c), he shall terminate the 
designation of such State under this paragraph (c), but this shall not 
preclude the subsequent redesignation of the State at any time upon 
thirty days' notice to the Governor and publication in the Federal 
Register in accordance with this paragraph, and any State may be 
designated upon such notice and publication, at any time after the 
period specified in this paragraph whether or not the State has 
theretofore been designated, upon the Secretary determining that it is 
not effectively enforcing requirements at least equal to those imposed 
under said sections.
    (4) The Secretary shall promptly upon August 18, 1968, and 
periodically thereafter, but at least annually, review the requirements, 
including the enforcement thereof, of the several States not designated 
under this paragraph (c), with respect to the slaughter, and the 
processing, storage, handling, and distribution of poultry products, and 
inspection of such operations, and annually report thereon to the 
Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate in the 
report required in section 470 \1\ of this title.
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    \1\ See References in Text note below.
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(d) ``State'' defined

    As used in this section, the term ``State'' means any State 
(including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) or organized territory.

(Pub. L. 85-172, Sec. 5, Aug. 28, 1957, 71 Stat. 443; Pub. L. 90-492, 
Sec. 5, Aug. 18, 1968, 82 Stat. 796; Pub. L. 98-487, Sec. 2, Oct. 17, 
1984, 98 Stat. 2264; Pub. L. 103-437, Sec. 8(1), Nov. 2, 1994, 108 Stat. 
4588.)

                       References in Text

    Section 470 of this title, referred to in subsec. (c)(4), was 
omitted from the Code.

                          Codification

    In par. (c)(1), (4), ``August 18, 1968'' substituted for ``enactment 
of the Wholesome Poultry Products Act''.


                               Amendments

    1994--Subsec. (c)(4). Pub. L. 103-437 substituted ``Agriculture, 
Nutrition, and Forestry'' for ``Agriculture and Forestry''.
    1984--Par. (c)(2). Pub. L. 98-487 inserted provisions relating to 
operations conducted at a restaurant central kitchen facility.
    1968--Pub. L. 90-492 substituted provisions authorizing the 
Secretary to cooperate with the appropriate state agency in the 
development and administration of state poultry product inspection 
programs in those states having mandatory poultry product inspection 
laws and those states having laws at least equal to the provisions of 
section 460 of this title, provisions authorizing planning, technical 
and financial assistance and the appointment of advisory committees, 
provisions designating the appropriate state agency with which the 
Secretary may cooperate, provisions authorizing the Secretary to 
designate states as subject to the regulatory provisions of this chapter 
when the requirements of the specified section have not been complied 
with or when the specified intrastate activities are present, provisions 
exempting from the requirements of this chapter operations of the types 
traditionally and usually conducted at retail stores and restaurants, 
provisions authorizing the Secretary to terminate the aforementioned 
designation of states as subject to the regulatory provisions of this 
chapter, and provisions authorizing the Secretary to review the 
operations in nondesignated states and make an annual report thereon, 
for provisions authorizing the Secretary, upon application by any 
appropriate state or local official or agency or by any appropriate 
local poultry industry group and after public hearing, to designate 
major consuming areas as subject to the regulatory provisions of this 
chapter where the Secretary finds that poultry or poultry products are 
handled or consumed in such volume as to affect, burden or obstruct the 
movement of inspected poultry products in interstate commerce.


                    Effective Date of 1968 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 90-492 effective Aug. 18, 1968, see section 20 
of Pub. L. 90-492, set out as a note under section 451 of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 457, 460 of this title.
