Guide to Direct Marketing Livestock and Poultry Regulations Every Producer Should Know to Legally Sell Meat and Livestock in New York State 2019 revisions were made by the Food and Beverage Law Clinic, a part of John Jay Legal Services, Inc., a non-profit legal services organization housed at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. Research was performed, and revisions were made, by Clinic students Maria Baratta, Nick Sioufas, and Brian Winfield, and by Pace-NRDC Food Law Fellow Daniel Sugar, with guidance from Professor Jonathan Brown. We are very grateful to the law students who helped with this process, and to the following people who reviewed the latest version: Kathleen Harris, farmer, former head of NE Animal Livestock Processing Service Co / farmer Dr. tatiana Stanton, Cornell Animal Science / farmer Rebecca Thistlethwaite, Niche Meat Processors Association Cory Skier, NYS Dept of Ag and Markets Division of Food Safety and Inspection Peter Duryea, USDA Policy Development Staff Erica Frenay, Cornell Small Farms Program / farmer The Work Team and the December 2010 revisions were funded by the Cornell Small Farm Program. January 2010 revisions were funded in part by the Niche Meat Processors Assistance Network and the New York State Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative. The initial paper was funded in part by a Food and Industry Development Grant received from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and through the contributions of NY Farms!, Cornell University Department of Animal Science and Fallow Hollow Deer Farm. Many thanks are due Clarence Davis, former Supervising Food Inspector, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Division of Food Safety and Inspection for meeting with us while he was still employed by NYSDAM on numerous occasions and answering our hundreds of questions. Members of New York Small Farm Work Team on Livestock Processing Issues 2010-2011 • Dr. tatiana Luisa Stanton, Cornell Animal • Tom Gallagher, CCE Albany County Science / farmer (TEAM CO-LEADER) • Michael Glos, King Bird Farm (farmer/ • Martha Goodsell, Fallow Hollow Deer processor) Farm (TEAM CO-LEADER) • Dr. James Hayes, Sapbush Hollow Farm • Debra Ball, Eagle Bridge Custom Meats (farmer/ processor) (processor) • Kathleen Harris, Northeast Livestock • Laura Biasillo, CCE Broome County Processing Service Company • Lynn Bliven, CCE Allegany County / • Betsy Hodge, CCE St. Lawrence County Wild Geese Farm • Matthew LeRoux, CCE Tompkins County • Marty Broccoli, CCE Oneida County • Audrey Reith, CCE Orange County • Eric Shelley, SUNY Cobleskill Meats Lab • Chris Harmon, CADE / Cowboy Custom Cutting (processor) • Jim McLaughlin, Cornerstone Farm • Heather Sandford, The Piggery (farmer/ Ventures processor) • Shannon Nichols, Heamour Farm (farmer) • Lindsay Wickham, NY Farm Bureau • Kirby Selkirk, Kirbside Gardens (farmer) 2 Resource Guide to Direct Marketing Livestock and Poultry TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents I. Introduction to Meat Regulation ....................................................................................... 10 A. Why We Decided to Undertake This Project ............................................................................ 10 B. Why Inspections Are Important and the History of Federal Inspection ................................ 10 C. Compliance Versus Circumventing ............................................................................................ 11 II. How Regulations Are Classified ........................................................................................ 12 A. Are the Animals or Birds Amenable or Non-Amenable? ......................................................... 13 B. Why Identifying a Market Channel Is Important .................................................................... 15 C. What Is Commerce? .................................................................................................................... 16 D. Intrastate or Interstate? .............................................................................................................. 16 E. Import or Export?........................................................................................................................ 17 F. Religious Exemptions, Certifications, and Cultural Practices ................................................. 20 1. Halal Requirements .................................................................................................................................. 20 2. Kosher Requirements ............................................................................................................................... 21 3. Federal Law Concerning Religious Slaughter .......................................................................................... 21 4. Humane Handling During Religious Slaughter ........................................................................................ 21 5. Halal and Kosher Labeling ....................................................................................................................... 22 a) New York’s Kosher Law Protection Act of 2004 ................................................................................ 22 b) New York’s Halal Foods Protection Act of 2005 ................................................................................ 23 6. Other Cultural Practices ............................................................................................................................ 24 G. Federal, State, or Custom: What Is the Difference? ................................................................. 24 1. USDA-Inspected Meat Processing Facilities ............................................................................................ 25 2. State or Locally Inspected “Custom Exempt” Slaughterhouses ............................................................... 26 3. DUAL LICENSES for Custom Exempt and 5-A Slaughtering ................................................................ 27 4. 5-A Non-Amenable Slaughtering and Processing Facilities ..................................................................... 28 a) Licensing ............................................................................................................................................. 28 b) Unlawful Acts ...................................................................................................................................... 29 5. 5-A Poultry Slaughtering and Processing Facilities ................................................................................. 30 a) 5-A Facility Design .............................................................................................................................. 30 b) 5-A Facility Location ........................................................................................................................... 30 6. 20-C Meat Processing Facilities ............................................................................................................... 31 a) Meat Lockers ....................................................................................................................................... 32 7. Retail-Exempt ........................................................................................................................................... 33 H. Other Types of Slaughterhouses Not Available in New York .................................................. 34 1. Talmadge-Aiken Meat Plants ................................................................................................................... 34 2. State-Licensed USDA-Equivalent Slaughterhouses ................................................................................. 34 III. Who Are the Responsible Parties of the Tiered System? ............................................ 38 A. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)....................................................................................... 38 1. Food Safety Modernization Act................................................................................................................ 39 B. USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) .................................................................... 40 C. Other Federal Agencies ............................................................................................................... 41 D. Other State and County Agencies .............................................................................................. 41 3 IV. Handling Slaughter Animals .......................................................................................... 43 A. Humane Handling ........................................................................................................................ 43 1. Systematic Approach ................................................................................................................................ 46 B. Humane Transport ...................................................................................................................... 48 C. Movement of Non-Ambulatory Animals to Slaughter .............................................................. 49 D. How Many Animals Can Be Loaded on a Trailer? ................................................................... 50 E. Acting as a Livestock Hauler ...................................................................................................... 51 1. USDOT Number Requirements ...............................................................................................................