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Title 21 — Food and Drugs

Chapter 12 — Meat Inspection

§ 617. Clearance prohibited to vessel carrying meat for export without inspector’s certificate

Statutory text

No clearance shall be given to any vessel having on board any fresh, salted, canned, corned, or packed beef, mutton, pork, goat or equine meat for export to and sale in a foreign country from any port in the United States, until the owner or shipper thereof shall obtain from an inspector appointed under the provisions of this chapter a certificate that the said amenable species were sound and healthy at the time of inspection, and that their meat is sound and wholesome, unless the Secretary shall have waived the requirements of such certificate for the country to which said amenable species or meats are to be exported.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. Pub. L. 59–2907 · 34 Stat. 1256

    Enacted · 21 U.S.C. § 617

    Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2907, title I, § 17, formerly 15th par., 34 Stat. 1263

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2907, title I, § 17, formerly 15th par., 34 Stat. 1263

  2. Pub. L. 90–201 · 81 Stat. 584

    1. Struck · 21 U.S.C. § 617

      Pub. L. 90–201, §§ 3(b), 12(a), (g), struck out “of Agriculture” after “Secretary”, included horses, mules, and other equines in the list of animals

    2. Substituted · 21 U.S.C. § 617

      Pub. L. 90–201, §§ 3(b), 12(a), (g), substituted “goat or equine meat” for “or goat meat, being the meat of animals killed after March 4, 1907, or except as hereinbefore provided”, respectively

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Pub. L. 90–201, §§ 3(b), 12(a), (g), struck out “of Agriculture” after “Secretary”, included horses, mules, and other equines in the list of animals, and substituted “goat or equine meat” for “or goat meat, being the meat of animals killed after March 4, 1907, or except as hereinbefore provided”, respectively.

  3. Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006

    Pub. L. 109–97 title VII § 798 · 119 Stat. 2120

    Substituted · 21 U.S.C. § 617

    Pub. L. 109–97 substituted “amenable species” for “cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines” in two places

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Pub. L. 109–97 substituted “amenable species” for “cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines” in two places.

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    Sec. 798. Amenable Species.— The Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended— (1) 21 USC 603–605, 608, 609, 615, 617, 618, 620, 621. 21 USC 601. by striking “cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines” each place it appears and inserting “amenable species”; (2) in section 1, by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(w) The term ‘amenable species’ means— “(1) those species subject to the provisions of this Act on the day before the date of the enactment of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006; and “(2) any additional species of livestock that the Secretary considers appropriate.” ; and (3) in section 21 USC 619. 19— (A) by striking “horses, mules, or other equines” and inserting “species designated by regulations in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006”; and (B) by striking “cattle, sheep, swine, or goats” and inserting “other amenable species”. (b) Effective Date.— The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the day after the effective date of section 794 of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006.

    Effective date note
    Amendment by Pub. L. 109–97 effective the day after 120 days after Nov. 10, 2005, see section 798(b) of Pub. L. 109–97, set out as a note under section 601 of this title.

1 of 4 references resolved to an enrolled provision · 3 partial

Editorial Notes

Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 85 of this title.

Amendments1967–2005 · 2 rounds

2005

Pub. L. 109–97 substituted “amenable species” for “cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines” in two places.

1967

Pub. L. 90–201, §§ 3(b), 12(a), (g), struck out “of Agriculture” after “Secretary”, included horses, mules, and other equines in the list of animals, and substituted “goat or equine meat” for “or goat meat, being the meat of animals killed after , or except as hereinbefore provided”, respectively.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2005 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 109–97 effective the day after 120 days after , see section 798(b) of Pub. L. 109–97, set out as a note under section 601 of this title.

Effective Date of 1967 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 90–201 effective , except that with respect to equines (other than horses) and their carcasses and parts thereof, meat, and meat food products thereof, amendment effective upon expiration of sixty days after , see section 20(b) of Pub. L. 90–201, set out as an Effective Date note under section 601 of this title.

Credits

1907–2005 · 3 acts
  1. 1907Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2907, title I, § 17, formerly 15th par., 34 Stat. 1263
  2. 1967renumbered § 17 and amended Pub. L. 90–201, §§ 1, 3(b), 12(a), (g), , 81 Stat. 584, 588, 592
  3. 2005Pub. L. 109–97, title VII, § 798[(a)](1), , 119 Stat. 2166.
Show as published

(Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2907, title I, § 17, formerly 15th par., 34 Stat. 1263; renumbered § 17 and amended Pub. L. 90–201, §§ 1, 3(b), 12(a), (g), , 81 Stat. 584, 588, 592; Pub. L. 109–97, title VII, § 798[(a)](1), , 119 Stat. 2166.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc21.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-04-17

USLM identifier /us/usc/t21/s617