§1399. Detained commercial feeds; withdrawal from distribution; condemnation and confiscation; stop order

A. When the commissioner or his authorized agent has reasonable cause to believe any lot of commercial feed is being distributed in violation of any of the provisions of this Part or of any of the prescribed regulations of the commission, he may issue and enforce a written or printed stop order warning the distributor not to dispose of the lot of commercial feed in any manner until written permission is given by the commissioner or the court. The commissioner shall release the stop order when the provisions and regulations have been complied with. If compliance is not obtained within thirty days, the commissioner may begin or upon request of the distributor or registrant shall begin proceedings for condemnation.

B. Any lot of commercial feed not in compliance with the provisions of this Part and regulations of the commission shall be subject to seizure upon the petition of the commissioner to the district court of the parish in which the commercial feed is located. In the event the court finds the commercial feed to be in violation of this Part and orders the condemnation of the commercial feed, it shall be disposed of in any manner consistent with the quality of the commercial feed and the laws of the state including sale of the feed at public auction or destruction of the feed at the distributor's expense. In no instance shall the disposition of the commercial feed be ordered by the court without first giving the registrant or distributor an opportunity to apply to the court for release of the commercial feed or for permission to process or relabel the commercial feed to bring it into compliance with this Part.

C. The commissioner may stop the sale, distribution, or movement of any commercial or customer-formula feed, whole or cracked unmixed grains or seeds, whole hays, straw, chaff, or hulls from grains or seeds, corn stover, or other materials which are sold for the purpose of feeding livestock and which the commissioner or his authorized agent has reasonable cause to believe contains any disease, toxin, hazardous waste, poisonous residues, or other material which poses an immediate threat to the lives or health of livestock in this state. A stop order may be issued by the commissioner without a court order, and the feed or material which is subject to the stop order may be detained for up to five working days. If an amicable agreement as to the disposition of the feed or material cannot be reached in that time, the commissioner shall begin proceedings for condemnation.

Acts 2010, No. 579, §1; Acts 2012, No. 146, §1, eff. May 14, 2012.