2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART III - Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics (§§ 711 — 1031d) › Chapter 51 - Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (§§ 711 — 732) › § 716 - Detention and destruction of articles

(a) Whenever a duly authorized inspector of the Secretary finds, or has probable cause to believe, that any food, drug, device, or cosmetic is adulterated, or so labeled as to be dangerous or fraudulent, within the meaning of this chapter, he shall affix to such article a tag or other appropriate marking, giving notice that such article is, or is suspected of being, adulterated or misbranded and has been detained or embargoed, and on the same tag or appropriate marking shall give warning to all interested persons that such article may not be removed from its place or disposed of by sale or otherwise until permission for removal or disposal is given by such inspector or by competent court. For his protection he shall draw up in duplicate a record of the proceedings, setting forth the quantity of the articles under custody. He shall take the regulation samples.
(b) When the said inspector shall verify that an article detained or embargoed under § 716(a) of this title is adulterated or misbranded, he shall petition the judge of the Court of First Instance, through the prosecuting attorney thereof, for an order for the condemnation or for the correction thereof, as provided under subsection (c) of this section; Provided, however, That if the merchant or the manufacturer should consent thereto in writing, such condemnation or correction of the article may be carried out administratively. When such agent has found that an article so detained or embargoed is not adulterated or misbranded, he shall dissolve the embargo and remove the tags or other markings.
(c) If the court finds that a detained or embargoed article is adulterated or misbranded, such article shall, after entry of the decree, be destroyed at the expense of the manufacturer or merchant, under the supervision of the inspector; and all court costs and fees, and storage and other proper expenses, shall be taxed against the merchant or his agent; Provided, That when the adulteration or misbranding can be corrected by proper labeling or processing of the article, the court may, upon a bond equivalent to the total value of the articles, direct that such article be delivered to the interested party for such labeling or processing under the inspection and supervision of the inspector. The expense of such supervision shall be paid by the merchant or manufacturer. The bond shall be returned when the Secretary or his agent gives written notice to the prosecuting attorney that the article no longer violates the provisions of this chapter, and that the expenses incurred by the Department of Health have been paid.
(d) Whenever the Secretary or his authorized agents shall find in any room, building, vehicle of transportation or other place, any spoiled meats, poultry, vegetable, or fruits or other perishable articles which are unsound, or which contain any filthy, decomposed or putrid substance, or that may be poisonous or deleterious to health or otherwise unsafe, the same being hereby declared to be a public nuisance, the Secretary, or his authorized agent, shall forthwith condemn or destroy the same, or shall in some way denature the same to render them unfit for public consumption.
History —Apr. 26, 1940, No. 72, p. 492, § 6, eff. 90 days after Apr. 26, 1940.