P.R. Laws tit. 10, § 241h
Whenever an inspector shall discover noncompliance with this chapter or with any regulation established hereunder by the Secretary regarding any lot of meat, or any material or container used or that may be used for the packing or labeling of said meat, he may issue against said product, container or material, a written detention order, signed by said inspector, copy of which shall be delivered to the owner and/or the person having same in his possession or custody, and it shall be the duty of the latter to keep said product, container or material under his custody, without use or consumption and out of normal trade at the place where such product, container or material has been detained, if adequate, or at such other place as the Secretary or his authorized representative may designate in writing, until the Secretary or his authorized representative shall lift in writing the detention order and shall authorize the marketing of the product, after the violation committed has been repaired, or shall determine any other action to be followed. Any natural or [juridical] person who, without a written authorization from the Secretary of Agriculture or his authorized representative, shall dispose of or fail to keep in his possession or custody, any lot of meat, container or material involved in a detention order issued under this section, at the place where said meat, container, or material has been detained, or in any other adequate place designated in writing by the Secretary or his authorized representative, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, punished by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars ($200) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500). Although the fine herein prescribed shall be the one applicable to said offense, and not the fines prescribed in § 241i of this title, the meat, container or packing material involved in a disobeyed detention order shall be subject to confiscation as provided in § 241i of this title.
The Commonwealth shall not be liable for any deterioration or damage sustained by any lot of meat, container or material during the effectiveness of a detention order. The marketing of any lot of meat subject to a detention order shall not be authorized if same is not fit for human use or consumption. In case of doubt the Secretary shall require its inspection by the inspectors of the Department of Health of Puerto Rico.
The Secretary or his authorized representative may lift the detention order affecting any lot of meat for the specific purpose of permitting the use of said product under his supervision for purposes other than for human use or consumption.
In case any lot of meat or any material or container used, or that may be used for the packing or labeling of said meat, is found in violation of the provisions of this chapter or of the regulations approved hereunder, when it is not feasible or convenient to the importer or owner to comply with the corresponding regulations, said product shall, at the option of the importer or owner, as the case may be, be returned to its point of origin, or be devoted, under the supervision of the Secretary or his authorized representative, to some use other than for human use or consumption, or be destroyed.
The owner of the property so detained and/or the person having it in his possession or custody may contest the detention order within the fifteen (15) days next following the date on which he has received a copy thereof, through a complaint against the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico filed in the corresponding part of the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico, without the posting of bond, which complaint shall be notified to the Secretary of Justice, who shall file his plea thereto within the term specified for any ordinary action. The hearing shall be held without subjection to docket and against the judgment rendered no remedy shall lie other than a certiorari before the Supreme Court, limited to issues of law.
History —June 30, 1965, No. 120, p. 333, § 9, eff. 90 days after June 30, 1965.