
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 21USC604]

 
                        TITLE 21--FOOD AND DRUGS
 
                       CHAPTER 12--MEAT INSPECTION
 
   SUBCHAPTER I--INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS; ADULTERATION AND MISBRANDING
 
Sec. 604. Post mortem examination of carcasses and marking or 
        labeling; destruction of carcasses condemned; reinspection
        
    For the purposes hereinbefore set forth the Secretary shall cause to 
be made by inspectors appointed for that purpose a post mortem 
examination and inspection of the carcasses and parts thereof of all 
cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines to be 
prepared at any slaughtering, meat-canning, salting, packing, rendering, 
or similar establishment in any State, Territory, or the District of 
Columbia as articles of commerce which are capable of use as human food; 
and the carcasses and parts thereof of all such animals found to be not 
adulterated shall be marked, stamped, tagged, or labeled as ``Inspected 
and passed''; and said inspectors shall label, mark, stamp, or tag as 
``Inspected and condemned'' all carcasses and parts thereof of animals 
found to be adulterated; and all carcasses and parts thereof thus 
inspected and condemned shall be destroyed for food purposes by the said 
establishment in the presence of an inspector, and the Secretary may 
remove inspectors from any such establishment which fails to so destroy 
any such condemned carcass or part thereof, and said inspectors, after 
said first inspection, shall, when they deem it necessary, reinspect 
said carcasses or parts thereof to determine whether since the first 
inspection the same have become adulterated, and if any carcass or any 
part thereof shall, upon examination and inspection subsequent to the 
first examination and inspection, be found to be adulterated, it shall 
be destroyed for food purposes by the said establishment in the presence 
of an inspector, and the Secretary may remove inspectors from any 
establishment which fails to so destroy any such condemned carcass or 
part thereof.

(Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2907, title I, Sec. 4, formerly 2nd par., 34 Stat. 
1260; renumbered Sec. 4 and amended Pub. L. 90-201, Secs. 1, 3, 4, 
12(a)-(d), Dec. 15, 1967, 81 Stat. 584, 588, 592.)

                          Codification

    Section was formerly classified to section 72 of this title.


                               Amendments

    1967--Pub. L. 90-201, Secs. 3, 4, 12(a)-(d), struck out ``interstate 
or foreign'' before ``commerce'' and ``of Agriculture'' after 
``Secretary'' in three places; struck out ``for human consumption'' 
before ``at any slaughtering'' and ``for transportation or sale'' after 
``District of Columbia'' and inserted ``which are capable of use as 
human food'' after ``commerce''; included horses, mules, and other 
equines in the list of animals; substituted ``adulterated'' for 
``unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome, or otherwise unfit for human food'' 
after `` `Inspected and condemned,' all carcasses and parts thereof of 
animals found to be'' and before ``, it shall be destroyed''; 
substituted ``not adulterated'' for ``sound, healthful, wholesome, and 
fit for human food''; and substituted ``adulterated'' for ``unsound, 
unhealthful, unwholesome, or in any way unfit for human food'' before 
``and if any carcass'', respectively.


                    Effective Date of 1967 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 90-201 effective Dec. 15, 1967, except that 
with respect to equines (other than horses) and their carcasses and 
parts thereof, meat, and meat food products thereof, amendment effective 
upon expiration of sixty days after Dec. 15, 1967, see section 20(b) of 
Pub. L. 90-201, set out as an Effective Date note under section 601 of 
this title.
