Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 105 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH › Title 105 CMR 500.000 - Good Manufacturing Practices For Food › Supplemental Regulations for Fish and Fishery Products › Section 500.021 - Additional Requirements for Handlers of Shellfish

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
All wholesale dealers and wholesale trucks that handle
				  shellfish shall comply with 105 CMR 500.021.
(A) Requirements for wholesale dealers and
				wholesale trucks that handle shellfish shall be established as administrative
				guidelines by the Department, based on the National Shellfish Sanitation
				Program (NSSP) Model Ordinance (NSSP Model Ordinance), published by the United
				States Department of Health and Human Services and the Interstate Shellfish
				Sanitation Conference. All wholesale dealers and wholesale trucks that handle
				shellfish shall comply with the administrative guidelines.
(B)
Shellfish
				Transactions
.
(1) A harvester may
				sell shellfish only to a Massachusetts wholesale dealer holding a permit
				endorsed for shellfish issued by the Division of Marine Fisheries and the
				Department. A harvester is prohibited from selling shellfish directly to a
				retail dealer, wholesale truck, restaurant, or consumer.
(2) The direct sale of shellfish to a
				consumer from a vehicle is prohibited, except as authorized by written policy
				of the Department.
(3) Each
				transaction between a harvester and a wholesale dealer shall be recorded on a
				serialized transaction slip approved by the Department. Information recorded on
				the transaction slip shall include the wholesale dealer's name and permit
				number, the type and amount of shellfish purchased, date of purchase, and the
				area from which the shellfish were harvested. Also, the transaction slip
				documenting the purchase of shellfish shall be imprinted by the wholesale
				dealer to show the number from the harvester's Shellfish Transaction Card
				issued by the Division of Marine Fisheries.
(4) The wholesale dealer, master digger, and
				harvester shall retain their copies of the transaction slip for at least 90
				days.
(5) A wholesale dealer shall
				purchase shellfish only from another wholesale dealer or from a harvester or
				master digger who presents a Shellfish Transaction Card and who is either known
				to the wholesale dealer or who presents photo identification.
(6) Sales of shellfish by a harvester to a
				wholesale dealer shall only be conducted by:
(a) The harvester transporting his or her
				product directly from the landing site to the wholesale dealer's physical
				facility for sale; or
(b) The
				harvester selling the product to an employee of a wholesale dealer at the
				landing site, provided that the employee transports the product to the
				wholesale dealer's facility. Shellfish purchased at the landing site must be
				transported to the wholesale dealer's facility for washing, grading, and
				tagging prior to its entering the marketplace.
(7) It is prohibited to land shellfish
				without an approved tag attached to the container as described in the
				Department's administrative guidelines based on the NSSP Model Ordinance.
				Containers with improper tags or no tags are misbranded and subject to
				embargo.
(8) Wholesale dealers
				shall retain tags for a minimum of 90 days. Tags shall be maintained in an
				orderly manner,
e.g.
chronologically, by harvester/dealer, or
				in some other appropriate manner, which facilitates the tracking of dealer
				purchases.
(9) Any commingling of
				different lots of shellfish shall be conducted in conformance with written
				Department policy.
(10) Dealers who
				receive shellstock from harvesters whose commercial shellfishing permits are
				subject to conditions imposed by the Division of Marine Fisheries or the
				Department, including but not limited to the requirement of a Vibrio management
				plan, or requirements related to participation in the Massachusetts Program for
				Onboard Screening and Dockside Testing for PSP Toxins in Molluscan Shellfish in
				Federally Closed Waters, shall comply with requirements of all plans or
				memoranda of understanding related to such conditions. Failure to comply may
				result in enforcement action, including coordination with the Division of
				Marine Fisheries on appropriate enforcement.