2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 53 - Meat (§§ 761 — 768) › § 766 - Municipal regulation of sale of fresh meats—Sale by public auctions; bids; bonds

Municipalities desiring to regulate the sale of fresh meats by means of public auctions shall do so through duly enacted ordinance making the necessary provisions for the holding of such auctions with the object of awarding the exclusive privilege of selling fresh meats within the municipality to such person or persons as may offer to sell said meats to the public at the lowest price. All ordinances enacted for the aforesaid purpose shall stipulate the term for which they shall be effective, and shall make such provision as may be necessary for the advertisement of such auctions as shall be held weekly or fortnightly in the form and manner hereinafter determined. Said ordinances may also provide that only the persons to whom the privilege has been duly awarded may sell fresh meats within the municipality, and may fix penalties for violations of this restriction provided such penalties do not exceed a fine of fifty dollars ($50) or imprisonment for thirty (30) days for each violation; Provided, [That] said auctions shall be announced by bills to be posted on the front of the city or town hall.
The minimum quantity of the different classes of meats required for public consumption on each one of the days comprised in the period, and the maximum price at which such meats may be sold on each of said days, shall be specified every week or fortnight in the announcements of the auctions.
Every bid shall specify the quantity and class or quality of each class of meat which the bidder agrees to offer for sale, and the price which he binds himself to charge therefor on each of the days included in his bid; Provided, That any bid may include either all the days comprised in the week or fortnight or any number of said days. The board of award, as constituted by § 96 of the Municipal Law, shall award the privilege for the sale of each class of fresh meat on each day of the period of the auction to the bidder offering to sell the same on such day at the lowest price, bearing in mind the class or quality of the meat offered.
Each bid shall be accompanied by a provisional cash bond, and each successful bidder shall furnish a final cash bond conditioned on the faithful observance of all the conditions of his agreement during each and every one of the days for which the privilege shall have been awarded to him. The amount of said bonds shall be stipulated in the ordinance providing for the award of the privilege.
The board of award shall have the right to reject all bids for any day or days of the weekly or fortnightly period, in which case, as well as in case no bids are received for any day or days of said period, the municipal legislature shall have the right to call for new bids for such days or to provide the most advisable arrangement to the satisfaction of the municipality.
Those persons to whom the privilege of selling meats is awarded shall be allowed the use of slaughterhouses and meat-stands belonging to the municipality, on the days for which said privilege shall have been awarded to them, upon payment of reasonable fees established therefor by the municipal legislature, and subject to such regulations as said corporation may establish.
History —Dec. 3, 1917, No. 52, p. 364, § 2; July 31, 1919, No. 85, p. 684, § 72, eff. 90 days after July 31, 1919.