(a) Beginning 180 days after enactment of this Chapter 27 and annually thereafter, each Grocer shall report to the Department on a form prescribed by the Director the Antibiotic Use Policy for each Product Group sold in the City during the previous year. The form shall require reporting of information including, but not limited to, the different purposes for which antibiotics are used, whether the use has a Third-Party Certification, the number of animals raised, and the total volume of antibiotics administered. The reporting shall distinguish between use of Medically Important Antibiotics, and Antibiotics Not Currently Medically Important. If there is no change to the Antibiotic Use Policy information from the previous year for a Product Group, the Grocer may report that fact in its response on the Department’s form. A Grocer shall fill out a separate form for each distinct retail banner operated and/or owned by the Grocer.
(b) Upon a written petition from a Grocer showing, based on substantial evidence, that the reporting of certain required information is not feasible without significant hardship, the Director may exercise reasonable discretion to waive reporting of the relevant information for a period of time specified by the Director. Any waiver shall be crafted as narrowly as possible, to maximize disclosure as required by this Chapter 27. If a petition is granted, in responding to the form for the relevant Product Group, the Grocer shall indicate that it has a waiver for the relevant portions of the form. All petitions the Department receives shall be publicly posted on the Department’s website for a minimum of 30 days. The Department shall, during a designated comment period, receive and post on its website written comments from the public for the Director to take under advisement in ruling on each petition. Where a written petition receives no response from the Director within 60 days, the petition shall be deemed approved to grant a waiver for one year. Once each year, the Director shall provide an opportunity for input on the petition review and approval process at a public meeting, and shall respond to the public input on each waiver for which concerns are raised.
(c) Grocery stores and butchers that do not meet the definition of “Grocer” may elect to participate in the reporting process set forth in this Section 2703, and the Department shall encourage such participation.
(d) Five years from enactment of this Chapter, the Director shall evaluate whether the reporting program continues to provide useful information to the public and shall submit a written report based on the evaluation to the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors, with recommendations, if any, for changes to City laws or programs.
(e) Each Grocer shall retain documentation of the Antibiotic Use Policy for each Product Group sold in its stores. The following shall be sufficient documentation:
(1) A written statement from the Producer of each Product Group that provides information sufficient to address the queries in the Department’s form;
(2) A Third-Party Certification that confirms the Producer’s responses to the Department’s form; and/or
(3) A store-wide Antibiotic Use Policy that applies to all Meat and Poultry products sold in the store, or that applies to all products in a particular category of Meat or Poultry sold in the store, such as chicken, turkey, pork, or beef; and the process, in writing, by which the Grocer enforces this policy, including any Third-Party Certifications used, written statements from Producers, purchasing specifications, or equivalent information that demonstrates enforcement of the store-wide policy.
For a Product Group for which there has been no change to the Antibiotic Use Policy from the previous year, the Grocer shall retain documentation establishing that there has been no change.
(Added by Ord. 204-17, File No. 170763, App. 10/24/2017, Eff. 11/23/2017)