Oregon Revised Statutes
As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise: “Container” means milk and cream cans, farm milk tanks, milk tank trucks, milk storage tanks, pasteurizing vats, cheese vats, butter churns, butter tubs, cheese hoops and any other receptacle designed for use or used to hold fluid milk, milk or dairy products. “Cream” means that portion of mil…
If the State Department of Agriculture believes that any person is engaged in or is about to engage in any act or practice that is a violation of ORS 621.056, 621.057, 621.062, 621.070, 621.072, 621.076, 621.084, 621.088, 621.117, 621.122, 621.124, 621.161, 621.166, 621.183, 621.198, 621.226 or 621.259 or any rule or standard adopted under ORS 621.060, 621.0…
The provisions of ORS 621.062, 621.070, 621.072, 621.076, 621.084, 621.088, 621.116, 621.117 and 621.259 and standards developed under ORS 621.060, 621.083 or 621.224 do not apply to a person owning not more than three dairy cows that have calved at least once, nine sheep that have lactated at least once or nine goats that have lactated at least once, but su…
The State Department of Agriculture shall deposit all fees paid to it under this chapter in the Department of Agriculture Service Fund. All such fees are continuously appropriated to the department for the purpose of administering and enforcing this chapter.
The State Department of Agriculture may permit the entry and use in this state of fluid milk produced in other governmental units subject to the conditions set forth in this section. For the purposes of this section, the term “governmental unit” means any state, territory of the United States or political subdivision thereof. The department shall investigat…
PRODUCT QUALITY AND SAFETY
Each distributor, producer-distributor and dairy products plant licensee shall employ a grader who shall accurately and impartially grade all milk or fluid milk purchased by the distributor, producer-distributor or licensee from producers before it is commingled with other milk or otherwise loses its identity.
The grader shall make a true written record of the grade of all milk graded by the grader. The record shall also show the name of the producer, the date of delivery and of grading, and the quantity involved. The record shall be delivered to and retained by the distributor, producer-distributor or dairy products plant licensee for 30 days and shall be availab…
The State Department of Agriculture shall establish by rule, as provided in ORS chapter 183, official state grades and standards of quality applicable to all milk, fluid milk and dairy products. The grades and standards for milk, fluid milk and dairy products may from time to time be changed by the department as provided in subsection (1) of this section. …
The State Department of Agriculture may adopt rules establishing definitions and standards of identity for all types of cheese. To the extent that the department considers practicable and applicable in this state, the definitions and standards of identity established by rule of the department shall conform to the definitions and standards of identity made un…
The State Department of Agriculture shall establish official state standards of quality for all forms of fluid milk in the manner prescribed by ORS 632.900 to 632.935. The standards of quality established for fluid milk shall be based upon: The health of the cows, sheep and goats; The physical facilities of dairy farms and milk processing plants; The sta…
A person shall not process, distribute, sell or offer or expose for sale fluid milk that does not conform to a standard of identity established by the State Department of Agriculture.
GRADE DESIGNATION USE
A person shall not use any grade designation on bottle caps, in advertising, on labels or in any other manner connected with the sale of fluid milk unless the State Department of Agriculture has licensed the person to use the grade designation.
The State Department of Agriculture shall issue a license to use a grade designation to any person who: Makes written application for a license on forms provided by the department; Pays the designated license fee; Is engaged in the business of producing or distributing fluid milk; and Meets the requirements of the particular grade designation for which a…
In addition to the powers conferred on the State Department of Agriculture under ORS 621.018, 621.060, 621.072, 621.076, 621.083 and 621.226, the department may suspend the privilege of any person to use a grade designation on containers of fluid milk produced or distributed by the person. The power of suspension may be exercised by the department for any vi…
A person shall not sell, expose or offer for sale or knowingly transport fluid milk in containers: If the fluid milk has been produced or processed in violation of ORS 621.070. If the container or container cap is not labeled with the name and address of the producer, distributor, nonprocessing distributor or producer-distributor of the milk and the applic…
The State Department of Agriculture may issue a distributor or producer-distributor license under ORS 621.072 to one or more additional users of a milk processing plant that is primarily operated by another distributor or producer-distributor. A license issued to an additional user for activities at the milk processing plant may differ in activity type from …
The State Department of Agriculture may establish standards of procedure and acceptable types of equipment for use by graders in taking and safeguarding samples of milk for analysis. WEIGHING, SAMPLING AND TESTING
Distributors, producer-distributors, dairy products plant licensees and all other purchasers of milk from producers shall weigh, sample and test fluid milk purchased by them from producers in the same manner as milk and cream are weighed, sampled and tested under ORS 621.096.
A producer, producer-distributor, distributor, nonprocessing distributor or dairy products plant licensee shall not offer or expose for sale, sell, exchange, deliver, possess or control with intent to sell, expose for sale or deliver, purchase for resale or receive for manufacture, any milk or cream to which water has been added, as evidenced by official Sta…
The producer of milk or cream, or the producer’s agent, has the right to be present while the distributor, producer-distributor or dairy products plant licensee weighs, samples or tests the milk or cream, and to take samples of the milk or cream and have them privately tested. At the request of any producer, a distributor, producer-distributor or dairy produ…
If a producer is damaged by an inaccurate weighing, sampling or testing of milk or cream by a distributor, producer-distributor or dairy products plant licensee or by the inaccurate recording of the results of any test by the distributor, producer-distributor or licensee, the producer may bring an action for those damages. The court may award reasonable atto…
If a distributor, producer-distributor or dairy products plant licensee fails to comply with any provision of ORS 621.056, 621.057, 621.084, 621.092, 621.122 (7) to (10) or 621.226 or regulations adopted under ORS 621.096, the State Department of Agriculture may revoke the license or, with the written consent of the distributor, producer-distributor or licen…
The State Department of Agriculture shall promulgate regulations relating to the weighing, sampling and testing of milk and cream. The department shall ensure that all milk that a distributor, producer-distributor or dairy products plant licensee purchases from producers is tested by the distributor, producer-distributor or licensee for milk fat content usi…
PROHIBITED ACTS, GENERALLY
A person may not sell or distribute for sale unpasteurized milk or fluid milk from cows, or dairy products from unpasteurized milk or fluid milk from cows, other than to a distributor, producer-distributor, dairy products plant licensee or nonprocessing cooperative. This section does not apply to the sale or distribution of cheese otherwise exempt from paste…
A distributor, producer-distributor or dairy products plant licensee shall not sell or offer or expose for sale any dairy product or fluid milk for human consumption unless the milk used in the dairy product or fluid milk has been pasteurized or is goat or sheep’s milk that was produced by a disease-free herd, except that if not more than one reactor animal …
A person shall not operate or permit the operation of any pasteurization equipment except under the direct personal supervision of a person licensed as a pasteurizer operator under ORS 621.266. A distributor, producer-distributor or dairy products plant licensee shall not sell, offer or expose for sale any milk or cream that has not been pasteurized or prod…
A person shall not sell or offer or expose for sale any fluid milk with knowledge that the milk has been produced from a herd of cows, sheep or goats, one or more of which were infected with brucellosis at the time the milk was produced, or with knowledge that not all the animals in the herd have been tested or retested for brucellosis in a manner approved b…
DAIRY PRODUCTS PLANTS
A person shall not operate a dairy products plant unless that person has a valid dairy products plant license. A separate license is required for each dairy products plant operated. A person is not required to obtain a dairy products plant license to act as a milk hauler or to operate receiving or transfer stations in conjunction with a milk processing plant…
As used in this section, “mobile milk tanker” means a tank or other receptacle that attaches to a bulk tank truck or other equipment and is used to transport fluid milk, milk or milk products. Application for a dairy products plant license shall be made to the State Department of Agriculture on forms provided by the department. Each license and each annual …
The State Department of Agriculture may issue a dairy products plant license under ORS 621.166 to one or more additional users of a dairy products plant that processes or uses milk to manufacture dairy products and is primarily operated by another person. A license issued to an additional user for activities at the dairy products plant shall cover all operat…
The State Department of Agriculture shall issue a dairy products plant license under ORS 621.166 or a license under ORS 621.072 for a distributor or producer-distributor to use a physical facility when it determines that the dairy products plant or the facility to be operated by the applicant is in compliance with the standards prescribed by the department p…
DISEASE AND CONTAMINATION PREVENTION
To ensure that the handling and processing of milk, fluid milk and dairy products is conducted in a sanitary environment, the State Department of Agriculture shall prescribe minimum standards of construction for dairy products plants and physical facilities of a distributor or producer-distributor, including but not limited to standards for: Floors, walls, …
The State Department of Agriculture shall prescribe minimum standards of sanitation for the operation of dairy products plants and physical facilities of a distributor or producer-distributor including, but not limited to, standards for the: Washing, cleaning, maintenance and condition of floors, walls and ceilings of all rooms directly connected with the h…
A person shall not operate a dairy products plant or a physical facility of a distributor or producer-distributor that fails to conform to the standards prescribed pursuant to ORS 621.176 and 621.181.
The State Department of Agriculture shall prescribe standards of construction and sanitation for bulk storage tanks, equipment, buildings and other facilities used by producers to store milk that is to be sold to a dairy products plant or to be used at a physical facility of a distributor or producer-distributor. The standards shall be for the purpose of ens…
A producer shall not store milk that is to be sold to a dairy products plant or to be used at a physical facility of a distributor or producer-distributor, in bulk storage tanks, equipment, buildings or other facilities that do not conform to the standards prescribed pursuant to ORS 621.193. A distributor, producer-distributor or dairy products plant licens…
The State Department of Agriculture shall condemn any container that it finds unfit for use by reason of dirt, rust, open seams or any other condition that may contaminate fluid milk, milk or dairy products or otherwise render them unfit for human use or consumption. The department shall provide by rule the method of plainly identifying condemned containers,…
A person other than an authorized employee or agent of the State Department of Agriculture shall not remove a condemnation tag or marking from a container. A person shall not place any fluid milk, cream, milk or dairy product in a container bearing a condemnation tag or marking. A person shall not use the contents of a container that has been condemned to …
All fluid milk is subject to the same bacterial standards as established by rule of the State Department of Agriculture.
Whenever a grader determines that any milk, cream, dairy product or fluid milk is unlawful, the grader shall immediately affix a condemnation tag to the milk, cream, dairy product or fluid milk container. Condemnation tags shall be in a form prescribed by the State Department of Agriculture. The grader shall also thoroughly mix sufficient harmless red colori…
If pasteurization equipment is used by a distributor or producer-distributor or at a dairy products plant, the distributor, producer-distributor or dairy products plant licensee shall ensure that the pasteurization process is under the direct supervision of a pasteurizer operator licensed under ORS 621.266.
The State Department of Agriculture shall promulgate regulations prescribing the equipment to be used in the pasteurization of dairy products and the manner of cleaning and maintaining the equipment. When the department authorizes the use of heat as a method of pasteurization, it shall prescribe the necessary regulations for the use of recording thermometers…
Application for a pasteurizer operator license shall be made to the State Department of Agriculture on forms provided by the department. A license issued or renewed by the department under this section may be restricted so as to authorize the licensee to engage only in a limited line of activity commensurate with the ability of the licensee. An applicant fo…
When any amendment is made in the laws of this state or new regulations are promulgated relating to a change in the grades of milk or the operation of pasteurizing equipment, the State Department of Agriculture may require any person licensed by the department to demonstrate knowledge and familiarity with the amendments or changes and ability to comply with …
If a person licensed under ORS 621.266 does not fully and faithfully comply with all provisions of ORS 621.122, 621.266 or 621.276 or standards and regulations adopted under ORS 621.181 and 621.261, the license of the person may be revoked, suspended or limited.
The chief laboratory officer of the State Department of Agriculture may certify milk and dairy industry laboratories or other commercial laboratories capable of analyzing milk and dairy products to perform specified analyses of milk and dairy products. Certification shall be for those tests, analyses and methods specified by the department and may be limited…
The State Department of Agriculture may approve the use of the Ring Test or the Whey Test as alternatives to blood testing of milk producing animals for brucellosis.
ICE CREAM AND OTHER FROZEN DESSERTS
As authorized by ORS 616.230 and 632.900 to 632.935, the State Department of Agriculture shall, by rule, establish definitions and standards of identity for frozen desserts.
Frozen desserts sold in package form or final delivery containers shall be labeled as required by rule of the State Department of Agriculture. Except as provided under subsection (2) of this section, to the extent that the department considers practicable and applicable in this state, the labeling requirements adopted by rule of the department shall conform …
A person engaged in the business of freezing or making frozen desserts and then selling those frozen desserts at wholesale must obtain a license to carry on that business from the State Department of Agriculture as provided in this section. The person must obtain a separate license for each wholesale establishment operated by the person. Upon payment to the…
A frozen dessert wholesaler shall not sell, offer for sale or possess with intent to sell a frozen dessert or frozen dessert mix that has an excessive bacteria count as established by rule of the State Department of Agriculture. Frozen desserts in which cultured milk is an ingredient shall not be required to meet any bacteria count standards.
A person shall not sell or offer for sale any product that the person represents to be a frozen dessert or that simulates or imitates the taste, texture or general composition of a frozen dessert unless the product conforms to the standard of identity for that frozen dessert established by rule of the State Department of Agriculture pursuant to ORS 621.311.
The State Department of Agriculture may revoke a license issued pursuant to ORS 621.335 for a violation of ORS 621.340 or 621.345 by the licensee.
In any proceeding instituted for a violation of ORS 621.340 in which possession with intent to sell a frozen dessert or frozen dessert mix is an issue, possession by the accused of frozen dessert or frozen dessert mix in containers of the size and type commonly used by the accused in selling that product shall be prima facie evidence of intent to sell.
CONDENSED OR EVAPORATED MILK; IMITATION MILK AND DAIRY PRODUCT SUBSTITUTES
A person shall not manufacture for sale, possess with the intent to sell, offer or expose for sale or sell any condensed or evaporated milk unless it conforms to the definitions and standards established by the State Department of Agriculture pursuant to subsection (2) of this section. The department shall establish definitions and standards of identity, qu…
A person shall not manufacture for sale, or sell or exchange, or expose or offer for sale or exchange, any condensed or evaporated milk, or any substance containing any milk or milk products and designed or intended to be used or capable of being used for or as a substitute for condensed or evaporated milk, if the milk used in the manufacture thereof is unla…
The State Department of Agriculture shall establish official state standards of quality and identity for imitation milk products in the manner prescribed in ORS 632.900 to 632.935. In establishing standards of quality and identity for imitation milk products, the department shall consider, in addition to other factors: The composition and purity of the pro…
A person engaged in manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, advertising or otherwise dealing in any product used or intended for use as a substitute for or imitation of a dairy product or fluid milk shall not use a trade or corporate name or product name, description, label, package, container, advertising matter or sales literature employing the terms “m…
In any public eating place serving meals for compensation at which a butter substitute colored to imitate butter is served, the owner or manager shall cause the butter substitute to be served: In triangular pats or triangular bricks; or On a parchment paper that is clearly marked or labeled with the words “margarine” or “butter substitute.” The administra…
STATE FACILITIES FOR TESTING MILK FAT CONTENT
The State Department of Agriculture shall establish and maintain procedures, systems and plans to carry out and enforce the intent and purposes of ORS 621.730, 621.740 and 621.750. The department shall make department laboratory facilities, equipment, materials and services available to producers and other persons engaged in the milk industry for the officia…
Within the availability of funds to be collected under ORS 621.740, the State Department of Agriculture shall maintain laboratory facilities and purchase necessary equipment and materials to carry out this section and ORS 621.720, 621.740 and 621.750. Any producer or other person engaged in the milk industry is authorized to request the department to provid…
The producer or person requesting official testing and related testing services from the State Department of Agriculture, as authorized under ORS 621.730 and 621.750 shall pay the fees established under ORS 621.730 as provided by rule of the department. If the producer or person requesting the services is selling milk to a first handler, distributor, produc…
The State Department of Agriculture shall promulgate rules including but not limited to rules providing that any producer may request the department to make an official milk fat content test of the milk the producer is selling to a dealer, milk handler or purchaser of milk. Official sample test periods used by the department shall correspond to the testing p…
PENALTIES
Violation of any provision of ORS 621.056, 621.057, 621.062, 621.070, 621.072, 621.076, 621.084, 621.088, 621.117, 621.122, 621.124, 621.161, 621.166, 621.183, 621.198, 621.207, 621.226, 621.259, 621.335, 621.340, 621.345, 621.418, 621.445 or 621.730 or any rule or standard adopted under ORS 621.060, 621.083, 621.096, 621.224 or 621.261, or failure to pay a …
In addition to any penalty available under ORS 561.190 or 621.991, the State Department of Agriculture may impose a civil penalty for a violation of ORS 621.056, 621.057, 621.062, 621.070, 621.072, 621.076, 621.084, 621.088, 621.117, 621.122, 621.124, 621.161, 621.166, 621.183, 621.198, 621.207, 621.226, 621.259, 621.335, 621.340, 621.345, 621.418, 621.445 o…