Statement of Scope
Department of
Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP)
Rule No.
:
|
Ch
.
ATCP
5
5
, Wis. Adm. Code
|
Relating to
:
|
Meat establishment license fees, requirements and exemptions; federal regulations cited
,
and affecting small business.
|
1. Description of the objective of the rule:
The
Department
proposes rule
revision
s
to implement provisions of
2015 Wisconsin Act 243
. This act
: 1)
requires
the
Department
to set, by rule, annual license fee amounts, not to exceed the current
level,
based on the type of inspection required
,
2) specifies exemptions from requirements
for retail food establishments producing certain meat items
to hold a meat establishment license
,
3) broadens the range of animals for which slaughter inspection is provided without a fee by
D
epartment
, and 5)
provides
the D
epartment’s authority to withdraw inspection from a licensed meat establishment, and the procedure for doing so
.
The
Department
also proposes revisions to: 1) make the
rule
terminology consistent with
that
in
2015 Wisconsin Act 243
,
2
) ensure that all appropriate United States Department of Agriculture (USD
A) regulations enforced by the D
epartment are correctly cited, 3)
remove the requirement for
Department
approval
of
formulas and labels of meat products prepared at a licensed meat establishment solely for sale at a retail food establishment operated
on
the same premises,
and
4)
clarify whether a mandatory inspection frequency should be set for custom meat establishments
.
2. Description of existing policies relevant to the rule and of new policies proposed to be included in the rule and an analysis of policy alternatives; the history, background and justification for the proposed rule:
New
statutory
(
2015 Wisconsin Act 243
)
exemptions from requirements to hold a meat establishment license affect a greater number of
retail food
establishment
s
than
were previously
considered exempt.
The statutory language is now consistent with USDA regulations
and
the
Department
proposes to
e
nsure that exemptions in rule will be consistent with
those in statute.
T
he statute broadens the range of animals for which slaughter inspection
is provided without fee by the D
epartment.
Alpacas, bison, llamas, and rabbits are now considered “livestock” and eligible for the no-fee inspection
starting in 2018.
In addition, to implement
2015 Wisconsin Act 243
, and
assist small rabbit producers who currently are
prohibited by
a statutory
requirement
for
rabbits
to
be slaughtered
anywhere but
in a licensed establishment
, t
he
Department
proposes to
creat
e
a no-cost license category
for on-farm rabbit slaughtering establishments, with
baseline
sanitation and recordkeeping
requirements, which will adequately safeguard public health while allowing low-volume rabbit producers to develop their businesses.
The
Department
will consider, with
stakeholder
input, specifying
the
minimum inspection frequency for these
establishments
.
H
igher-cost license categories with more stringent sanitary requirements
and more frequent inspection
may
be created
for larger-volume on-farm rabbit slaughter operations.
Creation of these license categories is consistent with the statutory mandate to establish license fees based on the type of mandatory inspection required. The
Department
proposes to create, with
stakeholder
input, multiple license categories
to replace the current two
licenses, a
meat establishment license
costing
$200 and
a
custom meat establishment license
costing
$80.
Many licensed meat establishments operate a retail food establishment
on
the same premises. Provided th
at
non-meat items sold in the retail food establishment do not exceed 25% of the total sales, the
Department,
by rule
,
does not require the retail food establishment to hold a separate
retail food establishment
license.
In this situation, many
licensed meat establishment
s
manufacture
some
meat products solely for the retail food establishment
part of their business
. The packages containing these products are not required to bear the inspection legend that is required for meat products being sold wholesale.
However, existing rule
has long been
interpreted as requiring that the formula and label of each of these produc
ts must be pre-approved by the D
epartment
before retail sale
.
Some business operators have questioned the fairness of this interpretation, as there are no such requirements for other, non-meat, potentially hazardous foods made for retail sale,
such as
fish sausage, and retail food establishments
,
not linked to a meat establishment
,
commonly make and sell meat items without formula or label approval,
(
e.g.
,
rotisserie chicken
)
.
Currently there is no
mandated frequency for inspection of custom meat establishments. These licensed establishments perform slaughter and/or processing, during which there is generally no inspector present and no mark of inspection is applied to the carcass or packages of products. The resulting products are returned to the owner,
(
i.e.
the products are “not for sale”
)
.
Since custom meat establishment operators pay a fee, it is only fitting that they
are
provided at least a minimum level of
Department
service.
The
Department
currently strives to
inspect
custom
establishments monthly, and seeks industry input on whether to set a minimum inspection frequency.
The
Department
is open to considering an inspection frequency based upon previous establishment performance.
The
Department
meat inspection program is required by USDA to have
inspection
procedures that are “at least equal to” USDA procedures
for
establishments making products that may only be sold in Wisconsin
,
or to have
inspection
procedures that are the “same as” USDA procedures
for
establishments in the Cooperative Interstate Shipment program that are allowed to ship products to
retail businesses in
other states.
In the former situation (“at least equal to”), the
Department’s inspection
procedures may differ in detail but must have the same
inspection
outcome
s
. In the latter situation (“same as”) the
inspection
procedures must be identical. The USDA has several actions that can be taken to maintain inspector safety or encourage non-compliant establishments to take corrective actions. One of the more serious actions is to
suspend
inspection services, a step that essentially forces an establishment to
cease operations or
risk being prosecuted for
operat
ing
i
llegally
.
2015 Wisconsin 243 provided this
same
suspension
authority to the
Department
. The
Department
will consider whether this authority should be listed
along
with the other enforcement actions currently described in the rule.
Policy Alternatives
.
If the
Department
does
not
update
the
current r
ules
as outlined above
,
the
re will be several contradictions between statute and rule
.
Industry could be confused about
license
exemption
criteria
,
the species of
animals for which there is no inspection fee, the authority of
Department
personnel to suspend inspection services, and general terminology.
On-farm slaughter of rabbits would be definitively illegal,
potentially
stifling a growing value-added agricultural sector.
The opportunity to tailor license fees
to the type of inspection
will
be lost, along with an opportunity to reduce the fee burden on industry. The opportunity to streamline retail meat operations by eliminating the requirement for
Department
formula and label approval would also be lost, resulting in additional steps in bringing meat products to retail customers.
3. Statutory authority for the rule (including the statutory citation and language):
93.07 Department duties.
It shall be the duty of the department:
(1)
R
egulations
.
To make and enforce such regulations, not inconsistent with law, as it may deem necessary for the exercise and discharge of all the powers and duties of the department, and to adopt such measures and make such regulations as are necessary and proper for the enforcement by the state of chs.
93
to
100
,
Stats.,
which regulations shall have the force of law.
97.09 Rules
.
(4)
The department may, by rule, establish and enforce standards governing the production, processing, packaging, labeling, transportation, storage, handling, display, sale, including retail sale, and distribution of foods that are needed to protect the public from the sale of adulterated or misbranded foods.
97.
42
Compulsory inspection of animals, poultry and carcasses
.
(
4
)
Rule
s
.
The department may
issue reasonable rules requiring or prescribing any of the following:
(a) The
inspection before and after slaughter of all animals and poultry killed or dressed for human consumption at any establishment
….
(g) Specifications and standards for location, construction, operation, facilities, equipment and sanitation for any premises, establishment or mobile facility where slaughter or processing is carried on, including custom slaughtering of animals or poultry and custom or retail processing of meat and poultry products.
(h) Conditions of sanitation under which carcasses, parts of carcasses, poultry and meat and poultry products shall be stored, transported or otherwise handled by any person engaged in the business of buying, selling, freezing, storing, transporting or processing such products.
(i) Record-keeping requirements for persons engaged in slaughtering or processing operations, or in the storage or transportation of meat, poultry, or meat food products, including record-keeping requirements for meat brokers and the registration of meat brokers with the department.
(j) Any other rules reasonably necessary to the administration and enforcement of this section.
4. Estimate of the amount of time that state employees will spend to develop the rule and of other resources necessary to develop the rule:
The Department
estimates th
at it will use appro
ximately 0.1
0 FTE staff to develop this rule. That includes time required for investigation and analysis, rule drafting, preparing related documents, coordinating
stakeholder
meetings, holding public hearings and
otherwise
communicating with affected persons and groups.
The Department
will use existing staff to develop this rule.
5. Description of all entities that may be impacted by the rule:
M
eat establishment operators
,
retail food establishment operators,
and
livestock
produce
rs
will all benefit from the
proposed revisions
.
License fees may decrease for many meat establishment operators, and an increased number of retail food establishment operators will not have
to
obtain a
n additional
meat establishment license. Meat establishments producing items specifically for sale in their own retail food establishment (operated in conjunction with the meat establishment) will
not
have
to
face the procedural hurdles of formula and label approval. Producers of alpacas, bison, and llamas will have lower costs, due to the inclusion of these animal species in the list of species for which the
Department
provides no-fee slaughter inspection.
On-farm rabbit-slaughter operations will be licensable, allowing the sale of their products to licensed retail food establishments and restaurants, while facing a minimal regulatory burden.
Discrepancies in terminology and requirements between statute and rules will be eliminated.
6. Summary and preliminary comparison of any existing or proposed federal regulation that is intended to address the activities to be regulated by the rule:
State meat inspection programs operate under a cooperative agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
Under this agreement, state meat inspection programs are required to
adopt
regulations that are “at least equal to” federal
meat and poultry inspection
regulations. In addition, Wisconsin is one of
four
states
participating in
the Cooperative Interstate Shipment (CIS) program allow
ing
certain selected
state-inspected
meat establishments to ship their products in interstate commerce.
States in the CIS program must adopt regulations that are the
“
same as
”
federal meat inspection regulations.
The proposed rule
will
ensure Wisconsin’s state meat inspection program is consistent with federal regulations and expectations
for
inspection and enforcement procedures, as well as exemptions from inspection, and suspension of inspection. By increasing the number of animal species that can be slaughtered in Wisconsin under no-fee inspection, as opposed to under voluntary for-fee inspection, the rule enhances the economic position of farmers producing alpacas, bison, and llamas.
7. Anticipated economic impact
This rule change is anticipated to
decrease costs for producers of alpacas, bison, and llamas; reduce license fees for most meat establishments and several retail food establishments;
and
decrease procedural barriers for meat establishment operators running a retail food establishment on the same premises. While rabbit producers may face a slight increase in costs, the ability to slaughter rabbits in an on-farm licensed facility may increase their ability to sell rabbit to restaurants and other retail food establishments.
The rule will not have an economic impact on local governmental units or public utility taxpayers.
Contact Person:
Steve Ingham, Division of Food
and Recreational Safety
Administrator
,
Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
; Phone
(608) 224-4
701
