WSR 25-23-013
PERMANENT RULES
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
[Filed November 7, 2025, 9:15 a.m., effective December 8, 2025]
Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: This rule-making order amends chapter 16-610 WAC, Livestock identification, by changing the reference in WAC 16-610-122 to the type of document that must be obtained before livestock can be removed from a public livestock market from "livestock clearance from the director" to "livestock inspection certificate."
Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 16-610-122.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW
16.65.020.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 25-19-090 on September 17, 2025.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: November 7, 2025.
Derek I. Sandison
Director
OTS-5388.1
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 19-20-022, filed 9/23/19, effective 10/24/19)
WAC 16-610-122Release of cattle and horses from public livestock markets.
(1) Before allowing the removal of any cattle or horses from any public livestock market, a licensee or the licensee's agent or employee must:
(a) Obtain a livestock inspection ((clearance from the director))certificate for the cattle or horses being removed; and
(b) Issue a release to the person wishing to remove the cattle or horses.
(2) The licensee shall hold proceeds from the sale of impounded cattle or horses for a reasonable period of time not to exceed ((
thirty))
30 days to permit the consignor to establish ownership or the right to sell the cattle or horses. If the consignor fails to establish legal ownership or the right to sell the cattle or horses, the proceeds shall be paid to the director to be disposed of as any other estray proceeds under RCW
16.57.300.
(3) Cattle and horses that have been offered for sale at a public livestock market but did not sell, will not be assessed an additional inspection fee upon reconsignment if:
(a) The reconsignment occurs within eight days of the original sale;
(b) The animals are reconsigned to the original sale facility;
(c) The animals have not been removed from the original sale facility before reconsignment;
(d) The animals have not been commingled with other animals; and
(e) No animals have been added or removed from the group.