Title 75, Regulation of Trade, Commerce and Investments

(1) The commissioner has the same right of examination, inspection, condemnation and detention of live exotic animals and carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat and meat-food products of exotic animals slaughtered and prepared for shipment in interstate commerce as the commissioner …

The commissioner may adopt, amend or repeal rules and regulations for the administration and enforcement of this article. The commissioner shall not promulgate any rules and regulations which are inconsistent with the rules and regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture go…

(1) It shall be the duty of every person operating an establishment or food establishment as defined in Section 75-33-3, except retail dealers, restaurants or eating places and establishments operating under the United States Department of Agriculture system of inspection, to app…

The buildings used in connection with any establishment shall be of sound construction and kept in good repair and shall be of such construction as to prevent the entrance or harboring of vermin. Floors, side walls and ceilings shall be constructed of impervious material and so c…

This chapter shall be designated as the “Mississippi Meat Inspection Law of 1968.”

The foregoing provisions shall apply to all carcasses or parts of carcasses of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines or the meat or meat products thereof, capable of use as human food, which may be brought into any slaughtering, meat-canning, salting, pack…

For the purposes hereinbefore set forth, the commissioner shall cause to be made by inspectors appointed for that purpose an examination and inspection of all meat food products prepared in any slaughtering, meat-canning, salting, packing, rendering, or similar establishment, whe…

(1) When any meat or meat-food product has been inspected as hereinbefore provided and marked “Mississippi inspected and passed” or appropriate marking shall be placed or packed in any can, pot, tin, canvas, or other receptacle or covering in any establishment where inspection un…

The commissioner shall cause to be made, by experts in sanitation, or by other competent inspectors, such inspection of all slaughtering, meat-canning, salting, packing, rendering, or similar establishments in which cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines ar…

The commissioner shall cause an examination and inspection of all cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines, and the food products thereof, slaughtered and prepared in the establishments hereinbefore described to be made during the nighttime as well as during …

(a) No person, firm, or corporation shall, with respect to any cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equine, or any carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat or meat food products of any such animals:(a) Slaughter any such animals or prepare any such products which are c…

(1) No brand manufacturer, printer, or other person, firm, or corporation shall cast, print, lithograph, or otherwise make any device containing any official mark or simulation thereof, or any label bearing any such mark or simulation, or any form of official certificate or simul…

No person, firm, or corporation shall sell, transport, offer for sale or transportation, or receive for transportation, any carcasses of horses, mules, or other equines or parts of such carcasses, or the meat or meat food products thereof, unless they are plainly and conspicuousl…

The commissioner shall appoint from time to time inspectors to make examination and inspection of all cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines the inspection of which is hereby provided for, and of all carcasses and parts thereof, and of all meats and meat fo…

Any person, firm, or corporation, or any agent or employee of any person, firm, or corporation, who shall give, pay, or offer, directly or indirectly, to any inspector, deputy inspector, chief inspector, or any other officer or employee of this state authorized to perform any of …

(a) As used in this chapter, except as otherwise specified, the following terms shall have the meanings stated below:(a) The term “commissioner” means the “commissioner of agriculture and commerce of the State of Mississippi,” or his duly authorized deputies.(b) The term “firm” m…

(1) The provisions of this article requiring inspection of the slaughter of animals and the preparation of the carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products at establishments conducting such operations shall not (a) apply to the slaughtering by any person of animals of hi…

The commissioner may by regulations prescribe conditions under which carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat, and meat food products of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines, capable of use as human food, shall be stored or otherwise handled by any person, firm…

Meat and meat food products are an important source of the nation’s total supply of food. It is essential in the public interest that the health and welfare of consumers be protected by assuring that meat and meat food products distributed to them are wholesome, not adulterated, …

(a) For the purpose of preventing the use in intrastate commerce, as hereinafter provided, of meat and meat food products which are adulterated, the commissioner shall cause to be made, by inspectors appointed for that purpose, an examination and inspection of all cattle, sheep, …

(1) For purposes of this chapter, the following methods of slaughtering and handling are declared to be humane:(a) In the case of cattle, calves, horses, mules, sheep, swine, ratites, nontraditional livestock, rabbits and other livestock, all animals are to be rendered insensible…

For the purposes hereinbefore set forth, the commissioner shall cause to be made by inspectors appointed for that purpose, as hereinafter provided, a post-mortem examination and inspection of the carcasses and parts thereof of all cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and o…

Inspection shall not be provided under Article 1 of this chapter at any establishment for the slaughter of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines, or the preparation of any carcasses or parts or products of such animals, which are not intended for use as hum…

(1) The following classes of persons, firms, and corporations shall keep such records as will fully and correctly disclose all transactions involved in their businesses; and all persons, firms, and corporations subject to such requirements shall, at all reasonable times, upon not…

No person, firm, or corporation shall engage in business, as a meat broker, renderer, or animal food manufacturer, or engage in business as a wholesaler of any carcasses, or parts or products of the carcasses, of any cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines, w…

No person, firm, or corporation engaged in the business of buying, selling, or transporting, 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 transportatio…

(1) The department of agriculture and commerce is hereby designated as the state agency which shall be responsible for cooperating with the secretary of agriculture of the United States under the provisions of Section 301 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act and such agency is dire…

The commissioner may (for such period, or indefinitely, as he deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter) refuse to provide, or withdraw, inspection service under Article 1 of this chapter with respect to any establishment if he determines, after opportunity for a…

Whenever any carcass, part of a carcass, meat or meat food product of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines, or any product exempted from the definition of a meat food product, or any dead, dying, disabled, or diseased cattle, sheep, swine, goat, or equine …

(1) Any carcass, part of a carcass, meat or meat food product of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules or other equines, or any dead, dying, disabled, or diseased cattle, sheep, swine, goat, or equine, that is being transported in intrastate commerce, or is held for sale in …

Except as otherwise specifically provided for in this chapter, the chancery courts are vested with jurisdiction specifically to enforce, and to prevent and restrain violations of this chapter, and shall have jurisdiction in all other kinds of cases arising under this chapter.

Any person who forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with any person while engaged in or on account of the performance of his official duties under this chapter shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) or imprisoned not mor…

(1) Any person, firm, or corporation who violates any provision of this chapter for which no other criminal penalty is provided by this chapter shall upon conviction be subject to imprisonment for not more than one (1) year, or a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000…

(a) The commissioner shall also have power:(a) To gather and compile information concerning, and to investigate from time to time the organization, business, conduct, practices, and management of any person, firm, or corporation engaged in intrastate commerce, and the relation th…

(1) For the purposes of this chapter, the commissioner shall at all reasonable times have access to, for the purpose of examination, and the right to copy, any documentary evidence of any person, firm, or corporation being investigated or proceeded against, and may require by sub…

(1) Any person, firm, or corporation that shall neglect or refuse to attend and testify or to answer any lawful inquiry, or to produce documentary evidence, if in his or its power to do so, in obedience to the subpoena or lawful requirement of the commissioner, shall be guilty of…

The requirements of this chapter shall apply to persons, firms, corporation establishments, animals, and products regulated under the Federal Meat Inspection Act only to the extent provided for in Section 408 of said federal act.

There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter.

Nothing in this chapter, except for the purpose of providing for cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture for the inspection of meat and related purposes, shall repeal or supersede any existing statutes regulating the same matters and subject.

(1) When a written complaint is made against a person for violation of any provision of this chapter or of Section 75-33-1 et seq., or any of the rules or regulations promulgated there under, the Commissioner of Agriculture, or his designee, shall conduct a full evidentiary heari…

(a) As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:(a) “Agricultural food animal” means a domesticated animal belonging to the bovine, caprine, ovine, or porcine species; or live domestic fowl l…

The executive administrative officers of state institutions of higher learning under the authority of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, the respective boards of trustees of public community and junior colleges and local school boards, shall establish…

(1) All retail and food service establishments of food products, meats, meat-food products, cultivated-protein food products, manufactured-protein food products, insect-protein food products and plant-protein food products shall inform consumers, at the final point of sale, of th…

(1) (1) The department shall inspect an inventory of food products offered for sale or sold at a food processing plant, retail or food establishment based on a credible complaint that the food products are misbranded as meat products as provided in Section 75-36-5.(2) The departm…

(1) A food product is misbranded as a meat product if all of the following apply:(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), the food product is a manufactured-protein food product or the food product contains a manufactured-protein food product;(b) The food product is not misbrande…

(1) If the department has reasonable cause to believe that a food processing plant, retail or food establishment is offering for sale or selling a food product that is misbranded as a meat product in violation of Section 75-36-5, the department shall issue a stop order. Upon bein…