SB 1265

This bill renames the "Tennessee Meat and Poultry Inspection Act"" as the ""Tennessee Meat Inspection Act."" Present law requires the commissioner of agriculture to hire a state meat inspection program administrator who is responsible for: (1) Compiling documents to demonstrate adoption of, and statutory authority and food safety regulations to run, a meat inspection program; policies to implement inspection activities, sampling programs, humane handling, and compliance programs; civil rights accountability; and a proposed budget; (2) Submitting the documents li sted in (1), along with any other required documents, to the federal food safety and inspection service (FSIS) of the U.S. department of agriculture, for the purpose of entering into a cooperative agreement with FSIS for a state meat inspection program; a n d (3) Performing other duties concerning the administration of a state meat inspection program, as determined by the commissioner. Present law also requires the commissioner to hire an administrative assistant to the program administrator, and to take administrative actions necessary to meet the requirements under the federal Meat Inspection Act to enter into a cooperative agreement with FSIS for a state meat inspection program. Thirty days following receipt from FSIS that the state meets such requir e ments, a state meat inspection program is to be implemented. This bill removes the requirements that the commissioner hire an administrative director and an administrative assistant to the director. This bill instead authorizes the commissioner to hire or appoint qualified personnel sufficient to carry out the duties required for a state meat inspection program. The full text of this bill lists 15 additional powers that the commissioner may exercise to implement and administer the program. Present law provides that the commissioner may cooperate with the federal government for purposes of carrying out a state inspection program for interstate commerce. Under this bill, the state meat inspection program will be limited to slaughterhouses, livestock ca r casses, meat, and meat food products of livestock for intrastate commerce, and custom slaughterers. Generally, this bill removes all references to poultry and poultry products from the meat inspection statutes and reiterates present law, which specifies that poultry and poultry products continue to be subject to federal inspection under the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act. The federal Meat Inspection Act requires that a state meat inspection program include inspection and sanitation requirements that are at least equal to the requirements of federal law, and that the state program be administered by an authority that is authorized to exercise regulatory powers that are at least equal to those of the secretary of agriculture. This bill incorpora t es by reference various definitions and substantive provisions of the federal Meat Inspection Act, which must be equaled or exceeded in order to meet the requirements for a state meat inspection program. This bill authorizes the commissioner to provide v oluntary inspection for animals other than livestock that can or may be used in and for the preparation of meat or meat food products for distribution in intrastate commerce. The commissioner may refuse to provide voluntary inspection services for good c a use shown, including, but not limited to, limitation of staff resources or inspector expertise. In all instances, the commissioner shall give scheduling priority to inspection services that are mandated by the federal Meat Inspection Act for processing o f livestock in intrastate commerce. For purposes of promulgating rules, hiring of personnel, and taking other administrative actions necessary to implement this bill, this bill takes effect upon becoming a law. For all other purposes, this bill mirrors t he present law requirement that the state meat inspection program be implemented 30 days following the commissioner of agriculture's receipt from FSIS that the requirements of the federal Meat Inspection Act necessary to a cooperative agreement for a stat e meat inspection program have been met. ON APRIL 15, 2025, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 1265, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 makes the following revisions:  Removes the requirement that i n order to obtain and maintain a license under the bill, a person must, if operating an establishment, submit a criminal history background check that includes fingerprint checks against state and federal criminal records maintained by the Tennessee bureau of investigation.  Removes the provision providing that a person is not eligible to obtain or maintain a license under the bill while any person responsibly connected to the establishment, as contemplated under the federal Meat Inspection Act, has been convicted of a felony or convicted of more than one of any other crime, either of which is based upon the acquiring, handling, or distributing of adulterated, misbranded, or deceptively packaged food or upon fraud in connection with food transactions.  Requires, instead, that in order to obtain and maintain a license under the bill, persons operating an establishment and persons responsibly connected to the establishment must not have been convicted of a felony or convicted of more than one of any other crime, either of which is based upon the acquiring, handling, or distributing of adulterated, misbranded, or deceptively packaged food, or upon fraud in connection with food transactions."