Application of act - Registration required - Prohibited acts relating to dead, dying, disabled or diseased animals - Requirements to sell rabbit products.

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  4. Application of act - Registration required - Prohibited acts relating to dead, dying, disabled or diseased animals - Requirements to sell rabbit products.

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A. The Oklahoma Rabbit and Rabbit Products Inspection Act shall apply to:

1. 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. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to:

  • a.the slaughtering of rabbits owned and raised by a person who prepares and transports the carcasses of:
    • (1)rabbits or parts of rabbits exclusively for his own use or for use by members of his household or his nonpaying guests or employees, or
    • (2)rabbits owned and raised by a person who prepares and transports the carcasses of uninspected rabbits or parts of rabbits exclusively for sale directly to household consumers. Said persons are specifically prohibited from selling or donating uninspected rabbit products to retail stores, brokers, meat markets, schools, orphanages, restaurants, nursing homes and similar establishments. Said persons are further prohibited from sales or donation of uninspected rabbit products to caterers, charitable institutions, public fund raising events and similar activities. Said persons are further prohibited from selling uninspected rabbit products through any type of retail market or similar establishment owned or operated by the rabbit owner or raiser,
  • b.except as otherwise provided by this section, 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.
    • (1)Any person desiring such exemption shall make application to the Oklahoma State Department of Agriculture. The application shall be in such form and contain such information as is required by the Board.
    • (2)The Board may impose such conditions as to sanitary standards, practices, and procedures in granting such 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 division 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.
    • (3)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.

B. 1. 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 such 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 such articles in or for such 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 such animals that died otherwise than by slaughter.

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

C. 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.

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

1. first being inspected and approved by:

  • a.the United States Department of Agriculture, or
  • b.the Oklahoma State Department of Agriculture; or

2. having been legally imported into this state pursuant to existing laws of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Added by Laws 1989, c. 170, § 5, operative July 1, 1989. Amended by Laws 1990, c. 167, § 1, emerg. eff. May 2, 1990.


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