§ 3-2121 . Definitions
§ 3-2122 . License to slaughter horses for human consumption; application; records required; appointment of inspectors
§ 3-2123 . Slaughterhouses and processing houses; separation from other meat handling; inspection; hearing; revocation of license; exemption of retailers
§ 3-2124 . Inspection of horses before and after slaughter; condemnation of unfit products
§ 3-2125 . Labeling of horsemeat; requirements
§ 3-2126 . Signs required for sale of horsemeat
§ 3-2127 . Segregation of horsemeat products sold at retail from other meat products
§ 3-2128 . Sale of horsemeat not for human consumption in hermetically sealed container or frozen package
§ 3-2129 . Sale of horsemeat to state institutions prohibited
§ 3-2130 . Unlawful use of horsemeat
§ 3-2131 . Violation; classification
§ 3-2132 . Labeling of equines other than horses
In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. “Horse” includes horse, ass, mule and burro.
2. “Horsemeat” means meat from a horse, ass, mule or burro, or any product derived wholly or partially from such animal.
3. “Slaughterhouse” or “establishment” means a house or place in which horses, asses, mules or burros are slaughtered, packed or processed.
CREDIT(S)
Formerly § 36-951. Amended by Laws 1982, Ch. 135, § 66; Laws 1988, Ch. 165, § 139. Renumbered as § 3-2121 and amended by Laws 1990, Ch. 374, §§ 232, 341, eff. Jan. 1, 1991.
§ 3-2122. License to slaughter horses for human consumption; application; records required; appointment of inspectors
A. A license shall be obtained from the division before slaughtering a horse for human consumption.
B. Application for a license to conduct a slaughterhouse for the slaughter of horses for human consumption shall be submitted to the division on a form prescribed by the department. The application shall contain the information the department deems necessary including a statement that the applicant will comply with the requirements of law and the rules of the director relating to the slaughter, processing, packing or preparation of meat food products made for human consumption from horsemeat, and shall be accompanied by the filing fee required for an application to conduct a slaughterhouse pursuant to article 1 of this chapter. [FN1]
C. The holder of a slaughterhouse license issued under the provisions of this article or a person handling horsemeat for resale shall maintain a record of the live and dressed weight, the date and from whom each horse was received.
D. A complete record of the sale of horsemeat shall be maintained for a period of one year, showing the name and address of each customer and the amount and date of each sale. All records required by this section shall be open for inspection by the department, the department of health services or an authorized agent thereof.
E. Inspectors appointed under article 2 of this chapter [FN2] may also serve as inspectors under this article, as assigned by the department.
CREDIT(S)
Formerly § 36-952. Amended by Laws 1973, Ch. 158, § 178; Laws 1977, Ch. 92, § 9, eff. May 26, 1977; Laws 1982, Ch. 135, § 67; Laws 1988, Ch. 165, § 140. Renumbered as § 3-2122 and amended by Laws 1990, Ch. 374, §§ 232, 342, eff. Jan. 1, 1991.
[FN1] Section 3-2001 et seq.
[FN2] Section 3-2041 et seq.
§ 3-2123. Slaughterhouses and processing houses; separation from other meat handling; inspection; hearing; revocation of license; exemption of retailers
A. The slaughtering of horses and preparation, processing, packing and storing of horsemeat and horsemeat products shall be conducted in a house or establishment separate from a house or establishment in which cattle, sheep, swine or goats are slaughtered or prepared, or any meat or meat food products thereof are prepared or handled.
B. Establishments for the slaughter of horses or the preparation and processing of horsemeat and horsemeat products shall at all times, whether in operation or not, be subject to and accessible for inspection by inspectors of the division for the purpose of ascertaining the sanitary condition thereof.
C. The premises of a slaughterhouse or establishment shall be kept in a sanitary condition. If the sanitary conditions of such an establishment are such that the horsemeat or horsemeat food products handled therein are rendered unclean, unsound, unhealthful, unwholesome or unfit for human food, the examining inspector shall refuse to allow the horsemeat or horsemeat food products to be labeled, marked or stamped as inspected and passed.
D. An operator of a slaughterhouse or establishment who fails to keep it in a sanitary condition or to comply with the rules of the director or the orders issued by an inspector of the department shall be reported, and the associate director may, in his discretion, revoke the license of the offending operator, subject to the right to a hearing pursuant to title 41, chapter 6, article 10. [FN1]
E. Nothing in subsections A and B shall be construed to prevent a person or establishment engaged in the selling of meat to the ultimate consumer exclusively at retail from storing, cutting, slicing, grinding, trimming or boning horsemeat in preparation for sale at retail in such establishment.
CREDIT(S)
Formerly § 36-953. Amended by Laws 1982, Ch. 135, § 68; Laws 1988, Ch. 165, § 141. Renumbered as § 3-2123 and amended by Laws 1990, Ch. 374, §§ 232, 343, eff. Jan. 1, 1991. Amended by Laws 1997, Ch. 221, § 29.
[FN1] Section 41-1092 et seq.
§ 3-2124. Inspection of horses before and after slaughter; condemnation of unfit products
A. There shall be an antemortem and a postmortem inspection of each horse slaughtered.
B. A horse found either upon antemortem or postmortem inspection or examination to be afflicted with strangles, purpura, hemorrhagica, azoturia, forage poison or cerebrospina meningitis, dourine, acute influenza, generalized osteoporosis, glanders, farcy or other malignant disorder, acute inflammatory lameness or extensive fistula shall be condemned. A horse suspected, upon antemortem inspection, of being infected with glanders shall be tested with mallein, and a horse which on physical examination is suspected of being infected with dourine, shall be held for further examination or for such test as the state veterinarian prescribes. A horse or horsemeat product found unwholesome, unclean, unsound or otherwise unfit for human consumption shall be condemned and the inspector may order it destroyed.
C. All horsemeat sold for human consumption shall be inspected by the state veterinarian or a deputy thereof. The inspector and authorized employees of the department and the department of health services shall have access, for purposes of inspection, to any place in which horses are being slaughtered or horsemeat is being processed, prepared, packed or offered for sale.
CREDIT(S)
Formerly § 36-954. Amended by Laws 1968, Ch. 48, § 20, eff. Jan. 1, 1969; Laws 1973, Ch. 158, § 179; Laws 1988, Ch. 165, § 142. Renumbered as § 3-2124 and amended by Laws 1990, Ch. 374, §§ 232, 344, eff. Jan. 1, 1991.
§ 3-2125. Labeling of horsemeat; requirements
A. Carcasses of horses slaughtered for human consumption shall be stamped on each standard cut, “horsemeat.” All horsemeat food products shall be conspicuously branded, marked, tagged or labeled, “horsemeat” or “horsemeat product.”
B. The labels for horsemeat or horsemeat food products shall be printed on light green paper and shall bear the words “horsemeat” or “horsemeat product,” followed by, “The horsemeat or horsemeat food product contained herein has been inspected and passed by the state of Arizona.”
CREDIT(S)
Formerly § 36-955. Renumbered as § 3-2125 by Laws 1990, Ch. 374, § 232, eff. Jan. 1, 1991.
§ 3-2126. Signs required for sale of horsemeat
A. It is unlawful to offer horsemeat for sale for human consumption unless there is prominently displayed in conjunction therewith a sign bearing the words, in letters not less than eight inches in height and three inches in width, “horsemeat for human consumption.” A restaurant or other public eating place offering horsemeat for human consumption shall have stamped on its menu, in green letters not less than one-half inch in height and one-fourth inch in width, and shall display in a conspicuous place, in letters not less than four inches in height and one-half inch in width, a sign bearing the words “horsemeat served here.”
B. When a sign containing the words “horsemeat,” “pet food,” “pet meat,” or any other words meant to signify horsemeat or pet food containing horsemeat not for human consumption is displayed on the outside or inside of an establishment offering for sale or on a vehicle delivering such products, there shall be displayed in conjunction therewith a sign, in letters at least equal in size, bearing the words, “horsemeat not inspected for human consumption.”
CREDIT(S)
Formerly § 36-956. Renumbered as § 3-2126 by Laws 1990, Ch. 374, § 232, eff. Jan. 1, 1991.
§ 3-2127. Segregation of horsemeat products sold at retail from other meat products
All horsemeat or horsemeat products sold at retail shall be sold from a case separate from that which contains the flesh of cattle.
CREDIT(S)
Formerly § 36-957. Renumbered as § 3-2127 by Laws 1990, Ch. 374, § 232, eff. Jan. 1, 1991.
§ 3-2128. Sale of horsemeat not for human consumption in hermetically sealed container or frozen package
Horsemeat not offered for sale for human consumption which is cooked and packed in a hermetically sealed container or frozen in a properly labeled package and kept intact in the original container may be sold in retail establishments where other meats are sold for human consumption.
CREDIT(S)
Formerly § 36-958. Renumbered as § 3-2128 by Laws 1990, Ch. 374, § 232, eff. Jan. 1, 1991.
§ 3-2129. Sale of horsemeat to state institutions prohibited
Horsemeat shall not be served in or sold to state institutions for human consumption.
CREDIT(S)
Formerly § 36-959. Renumbered as § 3-2129 by Laws 1990, Ch. 374, § 232, eff. Jan. 1, 1991.
§ 3-2130. Unlawful use of horsemeat
It is unlawful to slaughter a horse for human consumption, or to prepare, process, can, cure, smoke, salt, render or pack, or sell or offer for sale for human consumption horsemeat or any product derived in whole or in part therefrom except in accordance with the provisions of this article.
CREDIT(S)
Formerly § 36-961. Renumbered as § 3-2130 by Laws 1990, Ch. 374, § 232, eff. Jan. 1, 1991.
§ 3-2131. Violation; classification
A. A person who knowingly sells horsemeat as beef or who sells beef or beef products adulterated with horsemeat as beef or who violates § 3-2123, subsection A or § 3-2127 is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor.
B. Violation of any provision of this article other than that prescribed by subsection A of this section is a class 2 misdemeanor.
CREDIT(S)
Formerly § 36-962. Amended by Laws 1978, Ch. 201, § 632, eff. Oct. 1, 1978. Renumbered as § 3-2131 and amended by Laws 1990, Ch. 374, §§ 232, 345, eff. Jan. 1, 1991.
§ 3-2132. Labeling of equines other than horses
No person, firm or corporation shall sell, transport, offer for sale or transportation or receive for transportation any carcasses of mules, or equines other than horses, or parts of such carcasses, or the meat or meat food products thereof, unless they are plainly and conspicuously marked or labeled or otherwise identified as required by rules prescribed by the director to show the kinds of animals from which they were derived. When required by the director, with respect to establishments at which inspection is maintained under this chapter, such animals and their carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products shall be prepared in establishments separate from those in which cattle, sheep, swine or goats are slaughtered or their carcasses, parts thereof, meat or meat food products are prepared.
CREDIT(S)
Added as § 36-963 by Laws 1970, Ch. 155, § 20. Renumbered as § 3-2132 and amended by Laws 1990, Ch. 374, §§ 232, 346, eff. Jan. 1, 1991.