§2514. Licensing

1.  License or registration required.  A person may not 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, unless that person holds a valid license issued under this chapter or is registered under section 2514-A. Categories of licensure include:

A. Commercial slaughterers;   [PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

B. Custom slaughterers, 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 licensing provisions of this section;   [PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

C. Commercial processors;   [PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

D. Custom processors;   [PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

E. Wholesale distributors, except that livestock producers and livestock dealers who sell carcasses to or through inspected slaughterhouses are exempt from having to obtain a wholesale distributor's license under this paragraph. All other licensing provisions are applicable;   [PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

F. Retail vendors;   [PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

G. Meat and poultry product brokers;   [PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

G-1. [PL 2015, c. 329, Pt. A, §7 (RP).]

H. Renderers;   [PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

I. Public warehouse operators;   [PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

J. Animal food manufacturers;   [PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

K. Handlers of dead, dying, disabled or diseased animals;   [PL 2013, c. 304, §3 (AMD).]

L. Any other category that the commissioner may by rule establish; and   [PL 2013, c. 304, §3 (AMD).]

M. Mobile poultry processing unit operators.   [PL 2013, c. 304, §4 (NEW).]

[PL 2015, c. 329, Pt. A, §7 (AMD).]

2.  Application.  A person required to hold a license under subsection 1 shall apply in writing to the commissioner on a form prescribed by the commissioner. In case of a change of ownership or location, a new application must be made. A person engaged in more than one activity subject to licensure shall obtain a separate license for each activity.

[PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

3.  Investigate circumstances.  The commissioner shall investigate all circumstances in connection with an application for licensure to determine whether the applicable requirements of this chapter and rules adopted under this chapter are satisfied.

[PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

4.  Issuance of license.  The commissioner shall issue a license to an applicant who the commissioner determines satisfies the requirements of this chapter and the rules adopted under this chapter. Each license must bear an identifying number.

[PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

5.  Annual license fee; rules.  All licenses issued under this section expire on December 31st. The commissioner shall adopt rules to establish a schedule of fees for licenses issued under this chapter. Fees must be appropriate to the size of the establishment. Notwithstanding Title 5, section 8071, subsection 3, paragraph B, rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.

[PL 2007, c. 539, Pt. GGGG, §7 (AMD).]

6.  Denial, suspension or revocation of license.  The commissioner may, after notice and opportunity for hearing in conformance with the applicable provisions of the Maine Administrative Procedure Act, suspend or revoke a license or may take any other action that the commissioner determines appropriate concerning a license. The following are grounds for denial, suspension or revocation of a license:

A. The commissioner determines that a false statement was made in the license application; or   [PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

B. The commissioner finds that the licensee failed to comply with this chapter or the rules made under this chapter.   [PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

[PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW).]

SECTION HISTORY

PL 1999, c. 777, §1 (NEW). PL 2007, c. 539, Pt. GGGG, §7 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 252, §3 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 304, §§3, 4 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 323, §3 (AMD). PL 2015, c. 329, Pt. A, §7 (AMD).