251-Z-3 - Licenses; fees.
§ 251-z-3. Licenses; fees. No person shall maintain or operate a food processing establishment unless licensed biennially by the commissioner. Application for a license to operate a food processing establishment shall be made, upon a form prescribed by the commissioner, on or before the fifteenth of the month preceding the applicable license period as herein prescribed. The license period shall begin February fifteenth for applicants who apply for a license between February fifteenth and May fourteenth, May fifteenth for applicants who apply for a license between May fifteenth and August fourteenth, August fifteenth for applicants who apply for a license between August fifteenth and November fourteenth, and November fifteenth for applicants who apply for a license between November fifteenth and February fourteenth. The applicant shall furnish evidence of his or her good character, experience and competency, that the establishment has adequate facilities and equipment for the business to be conducted, that the establishment is such that the cleanliness of the premises can be maintained, that the product produced therein will not become adulterated and, if the applicant is a retail food store, that the applicant has an individual in a position of management or control who has completed an approved food safety education program pursuant to section two hundred fifty-one-z-twelve of this article. The commissioner, if so satisfied, shall issue to the applicant, upon payment of the license fee of four hundred dollars, a license to operate the food processing establishment described in the application. However, the license fee shall be nine hundred dollars for a food processing establishment determined by the commissioner, pursuant to duly promulgated regulations, to require more intensive regulatory oversight due to the volume of the products produced, the potentially hazardous nature of the product produced or the multiple number of processing operations conducted in the establishment. The license application for retail food stores shall be accompanied by documentation in a form approved by the commissioner which demonstrates that the food safety education program requirement has been met. The license shall take effect on the date of issuance and continue until the last day of the applicable license period set forth in this section. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the commissioner is hereby authorized and directed to deposit all money received pursuant to this section in an account within the miscellaneous special revenue fund.