Sec. 22-31. Inspection. Certification. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 22-31. Inspection. Certification. (a) The Commissioner of Agriculture or any person authorized by him shall have free access at all reasonable hours to any building or other place wherein it is reasonably believed that farm products labeled in accordance with official grades established and promulgated by the Commissioner of Agriculture are being marketed or held for commercial purposes, shall have power to open any bag, crate or other container of such farm products and examine the contents thereof and may, upon tendering the market price, take samples therefrom.

      (b) The Commissioner of Agriculture may inspect farm products to establish official grades or standards and certify the quality and condition of such products and other material facts relative thereto. Certificates issued in pursuance of such inspection and executed by the Commissioner of Agriculture or any person authorized by him shall state the date and place of inspection, the grade, condition and approximate quality of the farm products inspected and any other pertinent facts that said commissioner may require. Such a certificate and all federal certificates relative to the condition or quality of such farm products shall be prima facie evidence in all courts of the state of the facts required to be stated therein.

      (1949 Rev., S. 3069; 1959, P.A. 412, S. 7; 637, S. 2; 1961, P.A. 67; 1971, P.A. 872, S. 446, 448; P.A. 85-204, S. 3, 14; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(e); P.A. 04-189, S. 1.)

      History: 1959 acts divided section into Subsecs., transferring access right in Subsec. (a) from commissioner of agriculture to commissioner of consumer protection and rephrasing Subsec. (b) to replace references to inspector employees of agriculture commissioner with references to commissioner himself and later replaced commissioner of agriculture with commissioner of agriculture, conservation and natural resources; 1961 act replaced commissioner of agriculture, conservation and natural resources with commissioner of agriculture and natural resources; 1971 act replaced commissioner of agriculture and natural resources with commissioner of agriculture; P.A. 85-204 transferred authority re free access from the commissioner of consumer protection to the commissioner of agriculture; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 replaced Commissioner of Agriculture with Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-189 repealed Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby reversing the merger of the Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective June 1, 2004.