H-1670.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 1957
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 52nd Legislature 1991 Regular Session
By Representatives Rayburn, Nealey, McLean, Chandler, Roland, Franklin and Rasmussen; by request of Department of Agriculture.
Read first time February 15, 1991. Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Rural Development.
AN ACT Relating to food processing; amending RCW 69.07.010, 69.07.040, 69.07.050, and 69.07.060; adding new sections to chapter 69.07 RCW; repealing RCW 69.07.090 and 69.07.130; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 69.07 RCW to read as follows:
The processing of food intended for public consumption is important and vital to the health and welfare both immediate and future and is hereby declared to be a business affected with the public interest. The provisions of this chapter are enacted to safeguard the consuming public from unsafe, adulterated, or misbranded food by requiring licensing of all food processing plants as defined in this chapter and setting forth the requirements for such licensing.
Sec. 2. RCW 69.07.010 and 1967 ex.s. c 121 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
For the purposes of this chapter:
(1) "Department" means the department of agriculture of the state of Washington;
(2) "Director" means the director of the department;
(3) "Food" means any substance used for food or drink by man and any ingredient used for components of any such substance regardless of the quantity of such component;
(4) "Sale" means selling, offering for sale, holding for sale, preparing for sale, trading, bartering, offering a gift as an inducement for sale of, and advertising for sale in any media;
(5) "Food processing" means the handling or processing of any food in any manner in preparation for sale for human consumption: PROVIDED, That it shall not include fresh fruit or vegetables merely washed or trimmed while being prepared or packaged for sale in their natural state;
(6)
"Food processing plant" includes but is not limited to any premises,
plant, establishment, building, room, area, facilities and the
appurtenances thereto, in whole or in part, where food is prepared, handled or
processed in any manner for ((resale or)) distribution ((to)) or
sale for resale by retail outlets, restaurants, and any such other facility
selling or distributing to the ultimate consumer: PROVIDED, That ((retail
outlets)), as set forth herein, establishments processing foods in
any manner for resale shall be considered a food processing plant as to such
processing;
(7) "Food service establishment" shall mean any fixed or mobile restaurant, coffee shop, cafeteria, short order cafe, luncheonette, grill, tearoom, sandwich shop, soda fountain, tavern, bar, cocktail lounge, night club, roadside stand, industrial-feeding establishment, retail grocery, retail food market, retail meat market, retail bakery, private, public, or nonprofit organization routinely serving food, catering kitchen, commissary or similar place in which food or drink is prepared for sale or for service on the premises or elsewhere, and any other eating or drinking establishment or operation where food is served or provided for the public with or without charge.
For
the purpose of this chapter any custom cannery or processing plant where raw
food products, food, or food products are processed for the owner thereof, or
the food processing facilities are made available to the owners or persons in control
of raw food products or food or food products for processing in any manner,
shall be considered to be food processing plants((.));
(8) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, or association;
(9) "For resale" means the sale or distribution to other than the ultimate consumer. This term may include the transfer of food between individual company locations.
Sec. 3. RCW 69.07.040 and 1988 c 5 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
It
shall be unlawful for any person to operate a food processing plant or process
foods without first having obtained an annual license from the department,
which shall expire on ((the 31st day of March following issuance. A
separate license shall be required for each food processing plant)) a
date set by rule by the director. License fees shall be prorated where
necessary to accommodate staggering of expiration dates. Application for a
license shall be on a form prescribed by the director and accompanied by a
twenty-five dollar annual license fee. Such application shall include the full
name of the applicant for the license and the location of the food processing
plant he intends to operate. If such applicant is an individual, receiver, trustee,
firm, partnership, association or corporation, the full name of each member of
the firm or partnership, or names of the officers of the association or
corporation shall be given on the application. Such application shall further
state the principal business address of the applicant in the state and
elsewhere and the name of a person domiciled in this state authorized to
receive and accept service of summons of legal notices of all kinds for the
applicant((, and any other necessary information prescribed by the director)).
The application shall also specify the type of food to be processed and the
method or nature of processing operation or preservation of that food and any
other necessary information. Upon the approval of the application by the
director and compliance with the provisions of this chapter, including the
applicable regulations adopted hereunder by the department, the applicant shall
be issued a license or renewal thereof. Licenses shall be issued to cover
only those products, processes, and operations specified in the license
application and approved for licensing. Wherever a license holder engages in
processing of food other than specified on the license, he or she shall submit
an amendment to the current license application that shall be approved before
he or she may engage in processing of the new food products, specifying those
new products or processes.
If upon investigation by the director, it is determined that a person is processing food for retail sale and is not under permit, license, or inspection by a local health authority, then that person may be considered a food processor and subject to the provisions of this chapter.
Sec. 4. RCW 69.07.050 and 1988 c 5 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
If the
application for renewal of any license provided for under this chapter is not
filed prior to ((April 1st in any year)) the expiration date as
established by rule by the director, an additional fee of fifteen dollars
shall be assessed and added to the original fee and shall be paid by the
applicant before the renewal license shall be issued: PROVIDED, That such
additional fee shall not be charged if the applicant furnishes an affidavit
certifying that he or she has not operated a food processing plant or processed
foods subsequent to the expiration of his or her license.
Sec. 5. RCW 69.07.060 and 1979 c 154 s 19 are each amended to read as follows:
The
director may((, subsequent to a hearing thereon,)) deny, suspend or
revoke any license provided for in this chapter if he determines that an
applicant has committed any of the following acts:
(1) Refused, neglected or failed to comply with the provisions of this chapter, the rules and regulations adopted hereunder, or any lawful order of the director.
(2) Refused, neglected or failed to keep and maintain records required by this chapter, or to make such records available when requested pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(3) Refused the department access to any portion or area of the food processing plant for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this chapter.
(4) Refused the department access to any records required to be kept under the provisions of this chapter.
(5) Refused, neglected, or failed to comply with any provisions of chapter 69.04 RCW, Washington Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or any regulations adopted thereunder. A licensee shall be given an opportunity for a hearing under chapter 34.05 RCW with respect to an action taken against his or her license.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 69.07 RCW to read as follows:
(1) Whenever the director finds an establishment operating under conditions that constitute an immediate danger to public health or under conditions that allow adulteration of food as defined under RCW 69.04.210, the director may summarily suspend, pending a hearing, a license provided for in this chapter.
(2) Whenever a license is summarily suspended, the holder of the license shall be notified in writing that the license is, upon service of the notice, immediately suspended and that prompt opportunity for a hearing will be provided.
(3) Whenever a license is summarily suspended, food processing operations shall immediately cease. However, the director may reinstate the license when the condition that caused the suspension has been abated to the director's satisfaction.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 69.07 RCW to read as follows:
The director or the director's deputies, assistants, and inspectors are authorized to do all acts and things necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, including the taking of verified statements. The department personnel are empowered to administer oaths of verification on the statement.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. A new section is added to chapter 69.07 RCW to read as follows:
It shall be unlawful to resell, to offer for resale, or to distribute for resale in intrastate commerce any food processed in a food processing plant, which has not obtained a license, as provided for in this chapter, once notification by the director has been given to the person or persons reselling, offering, or distributing food for resale, that said food is from an unlicensed processing operation.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. A new section is added to chapter 69.07 RCW to read as follows:
Whenever the director finds that a person has committed a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter the director may impose upon and collect from the violator a civil penalty not exceeding one thousand dollars per violation per day. Each violation shall be a separate and distinct offense.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. The following acts or parts of acts are each repealed:
(1) RCW 69.07.090 and 1967 ex.s. c 121 s 9; and