§19-10A-10 Powers and duties of the commissioner. - West Virginia Statutes

§19-10A-10. Powers and duties of the commissioner.
(a) The commissioner shall by legislative rule establish standards for the grading, classification and marketing of shell eggs bought and sold by any person, firm or corporation in the state of West Virginia. These standards shall conform to, on date of the sale to the consumer, the minimum standards promulgated by the U.S. department of agriculture as defined in the "United States Standards, Grades and Weight Classes for Shell Eggs", authorized under Section 205, 60 Stat. 1091, Public Law 135, 82nd Congress; 7 U.S.C. 1624, effective July 11, 1952, as amended.

(b) All duties and functions required to be performed by the West Virginia department of agriculture under the provisions of this article shall be performed by the commissioner of agriculture.

(c) The commissioner of agriculture shall enforce the provisions of this article and may make and propose those rules for promulgation as may be necessary for the enforcement of this article.

(d) The commissioner has the power to issue an embargo or general embargo for any product which is or is believed to be adulterated, mislabeled or is not in compliance with this article and to cause the distributing of that product to cease. Nothing in this article may be construed as to requiring the commissioner to issue embargoes for minor violations of this article when the commissioner believes that a written notice of violation will serve the public interest.

(e) Audits:

(1) The West Virginia department of agriculture may conduct annual audits of all permit holders, including out-of-state permit holders to ensure proper reporting of egg inspection fees.

(2) Out-of-state permit holders shall reimburse the department for travel expenses incurred in conducting out-of-state audits. The state of West Virginia's out-of-state daily allowance for meals and lodging is the maximum amount reimbursable, plus travel expenses to and from locations of permit holders.