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An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Slaughter and Inspection of Livestock
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §2514-A, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2015, c. 329, Pt. A, §8, is further amended to read:
 
1. Registration permitted.   A person that is not licensed under section 2514 may engage in intrastate commerce in the business of buying, selling, preparing, processing, packing, storing, transporting or otherwise handling meat, meat food products or poultry products if that person is registered under this section. A person may register under this section if the person is a:
 
A. Custom slaughterer, except that itinerant custom slaughterers who slaughter solely at a customer's home or farm and who do not own, operate or work at a slaughtering plant are exempt from the registration provisions of this section;
 
B. Custom processor;
 
C. Poultry producer who processes fewer than 1,000 birds annually under section 2517-C; or
 
D. Person in any other category that the commissioner may by rule establish.; or
 
E.  Livestock producer who is located in Aroostook County.
 
The commissioner shall adopt rules to establish a procedure and a registration process for a livestock producer located in Aroostook County to engage in intrastate commerce in the business of buying, selling, preparing, processing, packing, storing, transporting or otherwise handling meat and meat food products. The rules must include a process for product inspections at livestock producers' locations. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
 
SUMMARY
Current law permits certain unlicensed slaughterers, processors and producers to register to engage in intrastate commerce to buy, sell, prepare, process, pack, store, transport and handle meat and meat food products. This bill includes livestock producers who are located in Aroostook County under that law and requires the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to adopt rules to establish the registration process and to inspect livestock producers at their locations.