580.036 Powers and duties.

(1) The department shall administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter. It shall have full authority to inspect, sample, and analyze any commercial feed or feedstuff distributed in this state and to assess any penalties provided for violation of this chapter.

(2) The department is authorized to adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to enforce the provisions of this chapter. These rules shall be consistent with the rules and standards of the United States Food and Drug Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture, when applicable, and shall include: (a) Establishing definitions and reasonable standards for commercial feed or feedstuff and permissible tolerances for pesticide chemicals, chemical additives, nonnutritive ingredients, or drugs in or on commercial feed or feedstuff in such amounts as will ensure the safety of livestock and poultry and the products thereof used for human consumption. (b) Adopting standards for the manufacture and distribution of medicated feed. (c) Establishing definitions and reasonable standards for the certification of laboratories for the conduct of testing and analyses as required in this chapter. (d) Establishing product labeling requirements for distributors. (e) Limiting the use of drugs in commercial feed and prescribing feeding directions to be used to ensure safe usage of medicated feed. (f) Establishing standards for evaluating quality-assurance/quality-control plans, including testing protocols, for exemptions to certified laboratory testing requirements. (g) Establishing standards for the sale, use, and distribution of commercial feed or feedstuff to ensure usage that is consistent with animal safety and well-being and, to the extent that meat, poultry, and other animal products for human consumption may be affected by commercial feed or feedstuff, to ensure that these products are safe for human consumption. Such standards, if adopted, must be developed in consultation with the Agricultural Feed, Seed, and Fertilizer Advisory Council created under s. 570.451.

(3) The department is empowered to take appropriate action against any person who violates or fails to comply with the provisions of this chapter. The department may request copies of labels and labeling and any other documents deemed necessary to ascertain whether such violation or noncompliance has occurred.

History: s. 2, ch. 94-282; s. 192, ch. 98-200; s. 6, ch. 2012-83; s. 93, ch. 2013-15; s. 130, ch. 2014-150.