Session Laws

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to immediately prevent the spread of a certain infectious disease, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Chapter 94 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1986 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out sections one hundred and fifty-two A, one hundred and fifty-two B, one hundred and fifty-two D, one hundred and fifty-two E, one hundred and fifty-two F, one hundred and fifty-two G and one hundred and fifty-three and inserting in place thereof the following two sections:-

Section 152A. No person or business entity shall engage in the business of buying, selling or transporting live poultry unless he shall have first obtained a license therefor from the commissioner of food and agriculture, the fee of which shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provisions of section three B of chapter seven. Such license shall expire on December thirty-first in the year or part thereof in which such license was issued and may be revoked by the commissioner of food and agriculture for cause and after notice and hearing in the manner provided by chapter thirty A. Such cause shall include, but not be limited to, violations of section one hundred and fifty-two B. All licensees under this section shall keep and maintain, for a period of one year, records of each transaction including dates, names and addresses of both seller and purchaser and number and species of poultry so bought, sold or transported. Said commissioner of food and agriculture may make regulations governing the issuance of such licenses as well as sanitation requirements for all trucks, crates, coops and other conveyances to be so utilized.

Section 152B. The use of wooden crates, containers or coops in the transportation of live poultry to or from farms is hereby prohibited. No truck, cage, crate, coop or other conveyance may enter a farm or livestock sale establishment for the purpose of delivering or removing live poultry or eggs unless such truck, cage, crate, coop or other conveyance is in a clean and sanitary condition. All such equipment used in conjunction with any market or sale point shall be cleaned and disinfected daily prior to the start of business. All such equipment coming into the commonwealth shall be cleaned and disinfected prior to its entry therein. The owner or operator of such equipment shall maintain and have in his possession a record of all such cleanings and disinfections.

A permit shall be issued by the division of animal health prior to the entry into the commonwealth of any live poultry or other fowl, including day-old chicks and poults. Such permits may be obtained by telephone and shall include the number, species, age of the animals to be transported and the name and address of both source flock and purchaser.