Title 69, Agriculture, Horticulture, and Animals

(1) The duties and responsibilities of the council shall be the following:(1) To conduct national and international market research to identify trade and investment opportunities.(2) To provide one-on-one business assistance with research, strategic planning, partner search, eval…

The council is hereby authorized and empowered to promulgate rules and regulations required to carry out the provisions of Sections 69-1-101 through 69-1-117.

The clerk must discharge such duties as may be prescribed by the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce. The expense necessarily incurred by the clerk in traveling on business of the department, under direction of the commissioner, must be paid for and charged against the depar…

The Mississippi Marketing of Agricultural Products and Industry Council is hereby authorized and empowered to accept monetary or in-kind contributions, gifts and grants for use in the marketing program. Any such monies shall be deposited in a special fund hereby established in th…

Members of the council shall serve without compensation, provided that they shall be entitled to per diem compensation as is authorized by law for each day occupied with the discharge of official duties as members of the council and all actual, necessary expenses incurred in the …

The provisions of Sections 69-1-101 through 69-1-117 shall be liberally construed to accomplish the purposes of Sections 69-1-101 through 69-1-117. The powers granted and the duties imposed in Sections 69-1-101 through 69-1-117 shall be construed to be independent and severable. …

The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce may provide technical guidance and outreach to landowners, farmers and producers regarding the management of nuisance wildlife on private agricultural and forestry lands. The commissioner is authorized to partner with state and federal…

(a) The following are the duties of the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce:(a) He shall encourage the proper development of agriculture, horticulture and kindred industries.(b) He shall encourage the organization of neighborhood and county agricultural clubs and association…

(1) The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized and empowered to employ an attorney to represent the department of agriculture and commerce and to fix his compensation subject to the approval of the state personnel board. Said attorney shall be a full-time e…

The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce shall make and submit to the Governor on or before the 10th day of January each year a report showing all the expenditures of the bureau for the preceding year and shall make a full and comprehensive report of the scope of the work and…

In order to facilitate the collection and collation of the accurate information of the resources of the state along all lines, the heads of the several departments of the state government and of the state institutions are hereby required to furnish accurately such information as …

(1) The following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context clearly requires otherwise:(a) “Potentially hazardous food” means a food that is natural or synthetic and that requires temperature control because it is in a form capable of supporting…

The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized to establish grades and standards from time to time for farm products grown or produced in this state, provided that any grade or standard on any farm product which may be established by the United States Departmen…

Chapter 530, Laws of 1991, shall be known and may be cited as the “Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce Reorganization Act of 1991.”

The Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall promote the development of agriculture and aquaculture for both native and nonnative species. The department shall be organized into the Administration Office, the Regulatory Office, and the Marketing, Agricultural Development and …

(1) The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized to investigate and certify to shippers and other financially interested parties, the grade, quality or condition of farm products in accordance with the standard established by him. The certificates issued by t…

(1) For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed in this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise:(a) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce.(b) “Department” means the Mississippi Department of Agricult…

(1) The State Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, the Governor and the Attorney General of the State of Mississippi, are hereby authorized and empowered, in their discretion, to protect the welfare of the people of the State of Mississippi by guaranteeing that seeds, feeds,…

The Legislature finds that the production of agricultural and aquacultural food products constitutes an important and significant portion of the state economy and that it is beneficial to the citizens of this state to protect the vitality of the agricultural and aquacultural econ…

(a) As used in Sections 69-1-251 through 69-1-257, the following terms shall have the following meanings:(a) “Disparagement” means dissemination to the public in any manner of any false information that the disseminator knows to be false, and which states or implies that a perish…

Any producer of perishable agricultural or aquacultural food products who suffers damage as a result of another person’s disparagement of any such perishable agricultural or aquacultural food product has a cause of action for damages and for any other appropriate relief in a cour…

Any civil action for damages for disparagement of perishable agricultural or aquacultural food products shall be commenced within one (1) year after the cause of action accrues.

The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized to co-operate with the secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture or any of his authorized agents or representatives in carrying out the purpose of this chapter.

Any regulations or best management practices adopted by the Commissioner of Agriculture regulating free-range poultry only shall be no more stringent or extensive in scope, coverage, or effect than federal regulations and best management practices. For purposes of this section, “…

The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce of the State of Mississippi, is authorized and empowered to enter into an agreement and execute any contract pursuant thereto, with the secretary of agriculture of the United States for the purpose of, and providing for, inspection, by…

The term of office of the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce shall be four years, and any vacancy occurring shall be filled by appointment by the Governor as provided by law.

The Department of Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized to employ or to contract with private security agencies to provide security for the Jim Buck Ross Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum. The jurisdiction of the security guards shall be limited to the museum pr…

Sections 69-1-301 through 69-1-319 shall be known as the “Mississippi Country of Origin Labeling Law of 2009.”

(a) For purposes of Sections 69-1-301 through 69-1-319, the following terms shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context otherwise requires:(a) “Beef” means the meat produced from cattle, including veal.(b) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Com…

(1) A retailer of a covered commodity shall inform consumers, at the final point of sale of the covered commodity to consumers, of the country of origin of the covered commodity. (2) (a) The information may be provided to consumers by means of a label, stamp, mark, placard or oth…

(1) United States country of origin. A retailer of a covered commodity that is beef, lamb, pork, chicken or goat meat may designate the covered commodity as exclusively having a United States country of origin only if the covered commodity is derived from an animal that was:(a) E…

(1) A retailer of a covered commodity that is farm-raised fish or wild fish may designate the covered commodity as having a United States country of origin only if:(a) In the case of farm-raised fish, it is hatched, raised, harvested and processed in the United States; or(b) In t…

(1) A retailer of a covered commodity that is a perishable agricultural product, ginseng, peanut, pecan or macadamia nut may designate the covered commodity as having a United States country of origin only if the covered commodity is exclusively produced in the United States. (2)…

(1) The commissioner is authorized to promulgate any rules and regulations as are necessary for the efficient enforcement of Sections 69-1-301 through 69-1-319. (2) The commissioner shall have authority to enter the premises of any person that prepares, stores, handles or supplie…

The commissioner may cooperate with and enter into agreement with agencies of the federal government in order to carry out the purpose and provisions of Sections 69-1-301 through 69-1-319. In this cooperative effort, the commissioner is authorized to accept from the federal gover…

(1) The commissioner may conduct an audit of any person that prepares, stores, handles or supplies any covered commodity for retail sale to verify compliance with Sections 69-1-301 through 69-1-319. (2) Any person subject to an audit under this section shall provide information t…

(1) If the commissioner determines that a retailer is in violation of Sections 69-1-301 through 69-1-319, the commissioner shall:(a) Notify the retailer of the determination of the commissioner; and(b) Provide the retailer a thirty-day period, during which the retailer must take …

The Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum shall be renamed and known as the Jim Buck Ross Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum. The Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall have an appropriate sign or signs placed at the museum displaying the new name of the muse…

(a) For purposes of Sections 69-1-351 and 69-1-353, the following terms shall have the meanings herein ascribed unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:(a) “Council” means the Interagency Farm to School Council created in Section 69-1-351.(b) “Farm to school program” means…

A certificate of free sale is sometimes required for agricultural products from Mississippi to enter importing states and foreign countries. Persons exporting products from Mississippi are often asked by importing states and foreign countries to supply a certificate for products …

(a) As used in Sections 69-1-371 through 69-1-375:(a) “Agricultural products” means, but is not limited to, any agricultural commodity or product, whether raw or processed, including any commodity or product derived from livestock that is marketed for human or livestock consumpti…

(1) The department is authorized to issue certificates of free sale for products grown or manufactured in Mississippi or distributed and sold from Mississippi. The business must be in good standing with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office. (2) All requests for certificate…

The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized at his discretion, and when the funds are available to construct or lease, operate and maintain warehouses to be utilized as a storage place for lime to be used for agricultural purposes. Said warehouses shall be l…

The provisions of this chapter shall not be construed in any way to conflict with the work and scope of the Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science and the Mississippi Experiment Station. It is the purpose of this chapter to secure the co-operation by the …

The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized and empowered, subject to the approval of the Department of Finance and Administration to borrow, from time to time, an amount not to exceed One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000.00) in the aggrega…

(1) For purposes of this section, the following words shall have the meanings ascribed herein:(a) “Department” means the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce.(b) “Museum” means the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum located at 1150 Lakeland Drive, Jackson, …