Section 55.04. Slaughter and processing inspection; general.

 

(1)   Slaughter inspection required.

(a) Except as provided in par. (b) or (c) , no person may sell any meat from any food animal for human consumption unless the department or the United States department of agriculture has conducted a slaughter inspection of that food animal. The slaughter inspection shall include an ante mortem inspection of the live food animal, and a post mortem inspection of the food animal carcass.

(b) Paragraph (a) does not apply to a person selling meat from a captive game animal or captive game bird if neither the department nor the United States department of agriculture has established ante mortem or post mortem inspection procedures for that type of captive game animal or captive game bird.

(c) Paragraph (a) does not apply to a person selling meat from not more than 1,000 poultry per year, provided that all the following apply:

1. The person produces all of those poultry on his or her farm.

2. The person slaughters, processes, and sells the poultry at the farm where they are produced, or has them slaughtered and processed at a licensed meat establishment.

3. The person clearly and conspicuously labels each package or container of poultry meat with the person's name and address and the words "NOT INSPECTED."

(1m)   Processing inspection required.

(a) No person operating a licensed meat establishment may sell any meat food product unless that meat food product is labeled as provided in s. ATCP 55.10 (3) .

(b) Paragraph (a) does not apply to meat food products processed at a retail establishment and sold only to individual consumers at that establishment.

(2)   Slaughter and processing inspection provided to licensed meat establishments.

(a) The department shall provide ante mortem and post mortem slaughter inspection services and processing inspection services to operators of meat establishments licensed under s. ATCP 55.03 . The department may not provide slaughter or processing inspection services to other persons.

(b) A meat establishment operator requesting slaughter or processing inspection services shall submit the request to the department in writing, and shall specify a proposed slaughter or processing schedule according to s. ATCP 55.03 (12) (b) . The department may require a different schedule, as provided in s. ATCP 55.03 (12) (c) . The meat establishment operator may not deviate from the specified schedule without prior department approval, as provided in s. ATCP 55.03 (12) (d) .

(3)   Slaughter inspection site.

(a) The department may not perform a slaughter inspection at any place other than a meat establishment licensed under s. ATCP 55.03 , except that the department may agree to perform field ante mortem inspections on any of the following:

1. Apparently healthy farm-raised deer or captive game animals that cannot be safely or humanely transported to a licensed meat establishment for ante mortem inspection.

2. Apparently healthy domesticated food animals, if special circumstances prevent the transportation of those animals to a licensed meat establishment for ante mortem inspection.

(b) The department may not perform field ante mortem inspections under par. (a) on diseased animals, or on animals that cannot stand or walk.

(c) If an animal passes a field ante mortem inspection under par. (a) , the operator of a meat establishment licensed under s. ATCP 55.03 may stun and bleed the animal in the field. The operator shall bleed the animal immediately after stunning, and shall immediately transport the carcass to the meat establishment for skinning, post mortem inspection, and processing. The operator shall transport the carcass in compliance with s. ATCP 55.11 . The inspector shall identify the carcass and monitor the carcass shipment, as necessary, to ensure compliance with this paragraph.

(4)   Slaughter inspection charges; when required. The department shall provide slaughter inspection services under subs. (2) and (3) without charge, except that the department shall charge a meat establishment operator for slaughter inspection services if any of the following apply:

(a) The inspection pertains to a captive game animal or captive game bird.

(b) The department performs the inspection on any of the following days, or at any of the following times:

1. Days or times not included in the normal slaughter schedule under sub. (2) .

2. Before 6:00 a.m. or after 6:00 p.m.

3. Any time in excess of 40 hours in any calendar week.

4. Saturday or Sunday.

5. The holidays of New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day. If any of these holidays falls on Sunday, the following Monday is considered the holiday.

6. Any day that is an official holiday for state employees.

(5)   Slaughter inspection charges; amount.

(a) If sub. (4) requires a meat establishment operator to pay for slaughter inspection services, the department shall bill and the operator shall pay uniform hourly charges for those services. The department shall establish uniform hourly charges based on the department's statewide average cost to provide inspection services. The department may establish higher hourly charges for inspections that must be provided by veterinarians.

(b) The department shall notify a meat establishment operator of the applicable hourly charge before providing an inspection service requiring a charge under sub. (4) . The department shall give at least 30 days prior written notice before increasing hourly charges under an ongoing inspection agreement.

(6)   Slaughter and processing inspection procedures. Slaughter and processing inspection procedures shall comply with this chapter, including ss. ATCP 55.05 to 55.07 and applicable federal requirements as specified in 9 CFR 305 , 309 , 310 , 316 , 318 , 321 , 329 , 332 , 416 , 417 , and 500 , and 9 CFR 381 , Subparts E, J, K,M, O, R, U, Y, and Z.

(7)   Inspector absence. A meat establishment operator shall immediately notify the department if a department inspector fails to appear for a scheduled ante mortem or post mortem inspection required under sub. (1) . The department shall provide an inspector as soon as possible, so that slaughter may proceed in a timely manner.

(8)   Withdrawing slaughter inspection. The department may withdraw slaughter inspection for cause, including violations of this chapter. No person may conduct slaughter operations for which department inspection is required under this chapter while those services are withdrawn.

History: CR 01-042 : cr. Register March 2002 No. 555 , eff. 4-1-02; EmR 1213: emerg. am. (title), cr. (1m), am. (2) (title), (a), (b), (6), eff. 9-13-12; CR 12-040 : am. (title), cr. (1m), am. (2) (title), (a), (b), (6) Register May 2013 No. 689 , eff. 6-1-13.

Note

Slaughter inspection is not required for custom slaughtered animals, because there is no sale of meat. Federal law prohibits the interstate sale of meat from animals slaughtered under state (rather than federal) inspection. But this federal prohibition does not apply to meat from farm-raised deer, captive game animals, or captive game birds. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 The exemption under par. (b) is very limited, because the department and USDA have established inspection standards for most captive game animals and game birds. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 See s. 97.42 (11) , Stats. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 A veterinarian must inspect animals that cannot stand or walk, and animals found to be suspect on ante mortem examination. See ss. ATCP 55.07 (8) and 55.05 (2) . Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1