93.07 Department duties. It shall be the duty of the department:
(1) Regulations. To make and enforce such regulations, not inconsistent with law, as it may deem necessary for the exercise and discharge of all the powers and duties of the department, and to adopt such measures and make such regulations as are necessary and proper for the enforcement by the state of chs. 93 to 100, Stats., which regulations shall have the force of law.
97.09 Rules.
(4) The department may, by rule, establish and enforce standards governing the production, processing, packaging, labeling, transportation, storage, handling, display, sale, including retail sale, and distribution of foods that are needed to protect the public from the sale of adulterated or misbranded foods.
97.42 Compulsory inspection of animals, poultry and carcasses.
(4) Rules. The department may issue reasonable rules requiring or prescribing any of the following:
(a) The inspection before and after slaughter of all animals and poultry killed or dressed for human consumption at any establishment….
(g) Specifications and standards for location, construction, operation, facilities, equipment and sanitation for any premises, establishment or mobile facility where slaughter or processing is carried on, including custom slaughtering of animals or poultry and custom or retail processing of meat and poultry products.
(h) Conditions of sanitation under which carcasses, parts of carcasses, poultry and meat and poultry products shall be stored, transported or otherwise handled by any person engaged in the business of buying, selling, freezing, storing, transporting or processing such products.
(i) Record-keeping requirements for persons engaged in slaughtering or processing operations, or in the storage or transportation of meat, poultry, or meat food products, including record-keeping requirements for meat brokers and the registration of meat brokers with the department.
(j) Any other rules reasonably necessary to the administration and enforcement of this section.
4. Estimate of the amount of time that state employees will spend to develop the rule and of other resources necessary to develop the rule:
The Department estimates that it will use approximately 0.10 FTE staff to develop this rule. That includes time required for investigation and analysis, rule drafting, preparing related documents, coordinating stakeholder meetings, holding public hearings and otherwise communicating with affected persons and groups. The Department will use existing staff to develop this rule.
5. Description of all entities that may be impacted by the rule:
Meat establishment operators, retail food establishment operators, and livestock producers will all benefit from the proposed revisions. License fees may decrease for many meat establishment operators, and an increased number of retail food establishment operators will not have to obtain an additional meat establishment license. Meat establishments producing items specifically for sale in their own retail food establishment (operated in conjunction with the meat establishment) will not have to face the procedural hurdles of formula and label approval. Producers of alpacas, bison, and llamas will have lower costs, due to the inclusion of these animal species in the list of species for which the Department provides no-fee slaughter inspection. On-farm rabbit-slaughter operations will be licensable, allowing the sale of their products to licensed retail food establishments and restaurants, while facing a minimal regulatory burden. Discrepancies in terminology and requirements between statute and rules will be eliminated.
6. Summary and preliminary comparison of any existing or proposed federal regulation that is intended to address the activities to be regulated by the rule:
State meat inspection programs operate under a cooperative agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Under this agreement, state meat inspection programs are required to adopt regulations that are “at least equal to” federal meat and poultry inspection regulations. In addition, Wisconsin is one of four states participating in the Cooperative Interstate Shipment (CIS) program allowing certain selected state-inspected meat establishments to ship their products in interstate commerce. States in the CIS program must adopt regulations that are the “same as” federal meat inspection regulations.
The proposed rule will ensure Wisconsin’s state meat inspection program is consistent with federal regulations and expectations for inspection and enforcement procedures, as well as exemptions from inspection, and suspension of inspection. By increasing the number of animal species that can be slaughtered in Wisconsin under no-fee inspection, as opposed to under voluntary for-fee inspection, the rule enhances the economic position of farmers producing alpacas, bison, and llamas.
7. Anticipated economic impact
This rule change is anticipated to decrease costs for producers of alpacas, bison, and llamas; reduce license fees for most meat establishments and several retail food establishments; and decrease procedural barriers for meat establishment operators running a retail food establishment on the same premises. While rabbit producers may face a slight increase in costs, the ability to slaughter rabbits in an on-farm licensed facility may increase their ability to sell rabbit to restaurants and other retail food establishments. The rule will not have an economic impact on local governmental units or public utility taxpayers.
Contact Person: Steve Ingham, Division of Food and Recreational Safety Administrator, Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection; Phone (608) 224-4701
