(a) No commercial slaughterer, custom slaughterer, commercial processor, custom processor or distributor shall operate an establishment unless he or she shall first have obtained a license from the commissioner, which license remains unsuspended and unrevoked. Application for such license shall be made on forms prescribed by the commissioner and shall be accompanied by the fee required in this section.

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Terms Used In West Virginia Code 19-2B-4

  • Adulterated: means and shall apply to any carcass, part thereof, meat product or poultry product under one or more of the following circumstances:

    (1) If it bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render it injurious to health. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2

  • Commercial processor: means a processor for commercial outlets or distributors and shall include the business of custom processing. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Commercial slaughterer: means a person engaged for profit in this state in the business of slaughtering animals or poultry for human consumption which are to be sold or offered for sale through a commercial outlet or establishment, and shall include a person who in addition to such commercial slaughtering also engages in the business of a custom slaughterer. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of agriculture of the State of West Virginia and duly authorized representatives. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Custom processor: means a processor in which the carcass, meat products or poultry products derived through processing cannot be sold or offered for sale through a commercial outlet, commercial establishment, distributor, or to an individual. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Custom slaughterer: means a person engaged for profit in this state in the business of slaughtering animals or poultry for human consumption which are not to be sold or offered for sale through a commercial outlet, commercial establishment, distributor, or to an individual, and shall include the boning or cutting up of carcasses of such animals or poultry and the grinding, chopping and mixing of the carcasses thereof. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Distributor: means a person engaged for profit in this state in the business where carcasses, meat products or poultry products are received from state inspected establishments, or establishments inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture and who stores and distributes to commercial outlets, processors or individuals and who conducts no processing. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Establishment: means any slaughterhouse, processing plant or distributor in this state. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Establishment number: means an official number assigned by the commissioner to each establishment and included on the inspection legend and label to identify all inspected and passed carcasses, meat product or poultry product handled in that establishment. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
  • Licensee: means any person licensed under the provisions of this article. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Meat: means the edible part of the muscle of animals which is skeletal or which is found in the tongue, in the diaphragm, in the heart or in the esophagus, with or without the accompanying or overlying fat, and the portions of bone, skin, sinew nerve and blood vessels which normally accompany the muscle tissue and which are not separated from it in the process of dressing. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other entity. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Poultry: means any domesticated bird which is used or intended to be used for human consumption. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Processing plant: shall include , but not be limited to, all buildings, structures, chill rooms, aging rooms, processing rooms, sanitary facilities, other facilities, and utensils, used by or in connection with the operations of a processor. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Processor: means a person who engages for profit in this state in the business of processing carcasses, meat products or poultry products for human consumption. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • Slaughterhouse: shall include , but not be limited to, all buildings, structures and facilities used in the slaughtering of animals or poultry for human consumption. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
  • Wholesome: means sound, healthful, clean, and otherwise fit for human consumption. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2

When such a person operates as a commercial slaughterer and also operates as a commercial processor, whether such operations are located on the same or different premises in this state, each such operation shall be licensed. When such a person operates two or more slaughterhouses not on the same premises in this state, or operates two or more processing plants not on the same premises in this state, a separate license shall be required for each such slaughterhouse and each such processing plant. Each license shall expire on June 30 next following its issuance, and the annual fee for each such license shall be based upon the average number of animals slaughtered per year and upon the average finished product poundage processed per year, as set forth in the following table, except that the annual fee for the license of a person who operates solely as a custom slaughterer shall be $10 or as a custom processor shall be $5 or as a distributor shall be $5.

Average Number of AnimalsAnnual

ClassSlaughtered Per YearFee

Small1-500$10.00

Medium501-1000$25.00

Large1001-5000$50.00

Extra LargeOver 5000$75.00

Average Finished ProductAnnual

ClassPoundage Processed Per Year Fee

Small1-25,000$10.00

Medium25,001-250,000$25.00

Large250,001-1,000,000$50.00

Extra LargeOver 1,000,000$75.00

Before issuing any license required by the provisions of this section, the commissioner shall inspect the applicant's establishment and if the commissioner is satisfied that the establishment is clean and sanitary, is properly equipped, and is in conformity with the provisions of this article and any reasonable rules promulgated by the commissioner, and if he or she is further satisfied that the carcasses, meat products or poultry products to be sold or offered for sale therefrom through commercial outlets will be wholesome and unadulterated, he or she shall issue the license. Each license shall specify the location of the establishment at which the licensee shall carry on his or her operations. The license shall also contain the establishment number assigned by the commissioner.

(b) When a licensee changes the location of his or her establishment, he or she shall not operate at such new location unless and until his or her establishment at such new location has been inspected by the commissioner and a new license has been issued, or when a licensee leases, sells, changes name, incorporates or in any other way changes the status of his or her establishment with relationship to issuance of current license, the new lessee, owner, etc., shall not operate at the location unless and until the establishment at such location has been inspected and approved by the commissioner and a new license has been issued in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section: Provided, That a fee shall not be charged for such new license during the license year in which the change in location or change in ownership, name or leasing was made.

(c) The commissioner may refuse to grant a license or may suspend or revoke a license issued under the provisions of this section whenever he or she finds that the applicant's or licensee's establishment, as the case may be, is not clean or sanitary, or is not properly equipped, or is not in conformity with the provisions of this article or any reasonable rules promulgated by the commissioner, or if he or she finds that the carcasses, meat products or poultry products to be sold or offered for sale therefrom through commercial outlets are or will be adulterated.

Upon the refusal to grant a license, the commissioner shall furnish a written statement to the applicant specifying the grounds for such refusal. No such revocation or suspension of a license shall be effective until the licensee has received written notice thereof, which notice shall specify the grounds for such revocation or suspension.

Whenever there is sufficient cause for the revocation or suspension of a license as hereinabove specified, the commissioner may in lieu of such revocation or suspension, suspend inspections at the establishment. Immediately upon suspension of such inspections the commissioner shall give the licensee written notice thereof, and such notice shall contain a recitation of the deficiencies which must be fully and completely corrected before inspections shall be resumed.

Upon receipt of a written statement advising that a license has been refused or upon receipt of a written notice of the revocation or suspension of a license, or upon the suspension of inspections at the licensee's establishment, the applicant or licensee, as the case may be, may, in writing, demand a hearing. The commissioner shall hold such a hearing within ten days after receipt of such written demand, in accordance with the provisions of section nine of this article.

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