Does Maryland license poultry slaughter facilities?
No, USDA has jurisdiction over poultry slaughter facilities and they issue a “grant of inspection”, not a license. USDA FSIS has jurisdiction over and issues a grant of inspection for processors of over 20,000 poultry per year. Under 20,000 slaughtered per year, USDA FSIS has jurisdiction to not sell adulterated poultry but the facilities are exempt from continuous inspection, however they may be inspected quarterly. Maryland allows the up to 20,000 bird exemption for on-farm processing and sales as specified in the Federal Poultry Act, but Maryland further restricts the Act by not allowing those birds to be sold off farm (DHMH approved source regulations). However, MDA may soon offer a training program for exempt farmers who want to sell off farm. Farmers enrolled in this program would be allowed by the state to sell off farm without further inspection. • Does Maryland license mobile processing units (MPUs) for animal slaughter? In Maryland, MPUs may be used for processing meat or pou
