Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 40 - RULES OF GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE › Chapter 40-13 - ANIMAL HEALTH DIVISION › Subject 40-13-6 - AUCTION MARKETS › Rule 40-13-6-.01 - General

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through June 27, 2024
(1) Definitions
(a) "Animal disease traceability" (ADT) means
				a program that is administered by USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection
				Service, Veterinary Services (APHIS VS), with cooperation of the Georgia
				Department of Agriculture, that specifies animal identification and record
				keeping requirements for livestock moving interstate.
(b) "Approved livestock auction market" means
				a livestock auction market or livestock sales establishment that must comply
				with all federal and state laws and requirements set forth by the Georgia
				Department of Agriculture. For purposes of the following rules and regulations,
				buying stations and livestock concentration points are treated as livestock
				sales establishments. An auction market may operate as both a market and a
				dealer, which would require a separate license and surety.
(c) "Association" means a formal business
				association where a group of persons have united for the attainment of a
				specific purpose or common object.
(d) "Authorized livestock auction market
				veterinarian" means an individual who is licensed to practice veterinary
				medicine in Georgia; accredited by the USDA APHIS VS; and authorized by the
				Georgia Department of Agriculture to perform prescribed and required duties at
				and for the livestock auction market. This individual is hired and compensated
				by the livestock auction market with the approval of the Georgia State
				Veterinarian.
(e) "Biosecurity"
				means preventive measures designed to prevent the introduction or reduce the
				spread of harmful organisms.
(f)
				"Electronic livestock sales" means sales of livestock, poultry, equines, and
				non-traditional livestock conducted on a commission or other fee basis by any
				person through the use of online, video, or other electronic methods without
				the physical presence of buyer or seller and without a physical examination of
				the livestock performed by the buyer.
(g) "Farmer" means a person who raises
				livestock, poultry, equines, or non-traditional livestock; or a person who
				raises animals for agricultural purposes.
(h) "Livestock" means cattle, swine, equines,
				sheep, and goats of all kinds and species.
(i) "Livestock dealer" means any livestock
				auction market, person, or agent of such person or livestock auction market
				which engages in or facilitates, including by electronic means, the business of
				buying, selling, exchanging, or otherwise transferring ownership of livestock
				or non-traditional livestock within the state for his or her own account or for
				that of another. For purposes of the following rules and regulations, brokers
				and packer buyers are treated as livestock dealers. The term "dealer" does not
				include:
1. Farmers acquiring livestock solely
				for the purpose of grazing and feeding as part of their farm
				operations;
2. Packers whose total
				annual purchases of livestock are less than $50,000.00, and who buy only from
				licensed dealers and licensed sales establishments;
3. Persons selling only livestock of their
				own production or buying only for their own production; and
4. Persons auctioning livestock on behalf of
				a third party.
(j)
				"Livestock auction market operator" means any person or entity engaged in the
				business of operating a livestock sales establishment or a public auction or
				sale of livestock; or who houses livestock with the intended purpose of auction
				or sale.
(k) "Non-traditional
				livestock" means the species of the Order Artiodactyla listed as antelope,
				bison, buffalo, catalo, elk, deer other than white-tailed deer, and water
				buffalo; as well as members of the Camelidae family listed as camels, llamas,
				and alpacas that are held and possessed legally under the wild animal
				provisions of O.C.G.A. Title 27.
(l) "Official identification" means methods
				of species identification approved by the State Veterinarian. Backtags may be
				used as official identification only in circumstances outlined by the USDA ADT
				program or rules and regulations of the Georgia Department of
				Agriculture.
(m) "Person" means any
				person, firm, corporation, association, cooperative, or combination
				thereof.
(n) "Special livestock
				sale" means any livestock sale other than a regular sale at an establishment
				and any sale by a farmer of livestock owned by the farmer where direct payment
				is made to the farmer.
(o) "Surety"
				means a letter of credit, certificate of deposit, or other written instrument
				issued or executed by a lending institution or bonding, surety, or insurance
				company licensed to do business in this state, guaranteeing the faithful
				performance of the terms of the contract of purchase, including the payment of
				the purchase price of all livestock purchased by the holder of such instrument,
				made payable to the Commissioner for the benefit of persons sustaining loss
				resulting from the nonpayment of the purchase price or the failure to fulfill
				the terms of the contract of purchase.
(p) "Swine" means members of the species
				Susscrofa.
1. "Domestic Swine" means swine
				breeds of the subspecies
Sus scrofa domesticus
commonly raised
				for meat production and housed in inside confinement.
2. "Transitional Swine" means domestic swine
				held in confinement in outside enclosures with increased risk of contact to
				feral swine.
3. "Non-traditional
				domestic swine" means swine, other than domestic swine, of recognized heritage
				breeds that are held in confinement.
4. "Feral Swine" means any hog which has
				lived any part of its life in a wild, free-ranging state and is currently in
				such state or has been taken.