§159-7  General powers.  The department,
through its board, may:



(1)  Regulate, supervise, inspect, and control the
slaughtering of animals and the manufacture, processing, transportation,
packaging, labeling, and disposal of meat or meat products involved in
intrastate commerce;



(2)  Adopt, amend, and repeal rules as are necessary
to implement this chapter, subject to chapter 91, on the following matters:



(A)  The issuance of licenses, including the
class of licenses to be issued;



(B)  The type of equipment or facilities that
may be used in slaughtering and meat processing operations;



(C)  The internal operations of slaughterhouses
and meat processing establishments;



(D)  The procedures for ante-mortem and
post-mortem inspections and the reinspection of meat or meat products used in
processing, and the disposal of diseased carcasses and parts of carcasses and
meat or meat products found to be unwholesome or otherwise unfit for human
consumption;



(E)  The hours of slaughtering and processing,
and the conditions under which slaughtering and processing may be conducted at
other than scheduled times;



(F)  The labeling and packaging of meat or meat
products;



(G)  The storing, handling, and transportation
of meat or meat products;



(H)  The sanitary conditions of all
establishments where animals are slaughtered, and where meat or meat products
are processed or prepared; and



(I)  Any other matter as may be necessary or
desirable to implement this chapter.  Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions,
the board, without regard to the notice and public hearing requirements of
chapter 91, may adopt all federal meat inspection regulations, including
changes made from time to time by the United States Secretary of Agriculture,
as rules for the efficient administration of this chapter.  Prior to the
effective date of any such rules, the department shall publish in a newspaper
of general circulation a notice that includes:



(i)  Either a statement of the substance of the
proposed rule adoption, amendment, or repeal; or a general description of the
subjects involved and the purposes to be achieved by the proposed rule
adoption, amendment, or repeal; and



(ii)  A statement that a copy of the proposed
rule to be adopted, the proposed rule amendment, or the rule proposed to be
repealed will be mailed to any interested person who requests a copy, together
with a description of where and how the requests may be made.



The notice shall be mailed to all persons who
have made a timely written request of the department for advance notice of
these rules or of the department's rulemaking proceedings.  The department may
require reimbursement for the cost of preparing and mailing the copies.



(3)  Provide for the inspection and certification of
meat derived from exotic animals when these services are requested by producers
of these products, and obtain from users of these services reimbursement for
all costs incurred in the provision of these services. [L 1969, c 214, pt of
§1; am L 1990, c 139, §3; am L 1991, c 88, §1; am L 1995, c 90, §2]