# § 606. Inspection and labeling of meat food products
**1** **In general** *Provided*[^1]
For the purposes hereinbefore set forth the Secretary shall cause to be made, by inspectors appointed for that purpose, an examination and inspection of all meat food products prepared for commerce in any slaughtering, meat-canning, salting, packing, rendering, or similar establishment, and for the purposes of any examination and inspection and inspectors shall have access at all times, by day or night, whether the establishment be operated or not, to every part of said establishment; and said inspectors shall mark, stamp, tag, or label as “Inspected and passed” all such products found to be not adulterated; and said inspectors shall label, mark, stamp, or tag as “Inspected and condemned” all such products found adulterated, and all such condemned meat food products shall be destroyed for food purposes, as hereinbefore provided, and the Secretary may remove inspectors from any establishment which fails to so destroy such condemned meat food products: , That subject to the rules and regulations of the Secretary the provisions of this section in regard to preservatives shall not apply to meat food products for export to any foreign country and which are prepared or packed according to the specifications or directions of the foreign purchaser, when no substance is used in the preparation or packing thereof in conflict with the laws of the foreign country to which said article is to be exported; but if said article shall be in fact sold or offered for sale for domestic use or consumption then this proviso shall not exempt said article from the operation of all the other provisions of this chapter.
See References in Text note below.
**(b)** **Certain fish** section 601(w)(2) of this title
In the case of an examination and inspection under subsection (a) of a meat food product derived from any fish described in , the Secretary shall take into account the conditions under which the fish is raised and transported to a processing establishment.
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**Source Credit**: (Mar. 4, 1907, ch. 2907, title I, § 6, as added Pub. L. 110–234, title XI, § 11016(b)(1)(B), May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1369, and Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title XI, § 11016(b)(1)(B), June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 2131; amended Pub. L. 113–79, title XII, § 12106(a)(2), Feb. 7, 2014, 128 Stat. 981.)
## Editorial Notes
### References in Text
This chapter, referred to in subsec. (a), probably should have been a reference to this Act in the original, meaning the Federal Meat Inspection Act, titles I to V of , as added , , , which are classified generally to subchapters I to IV–A of this chapter.
### Codification
and enacted identical sections and repealed former section 6 of act . was repealed by .
### Prior Provisions
> “For the purposes hereinbefore set forth the Secretary shall cause to be made, by inspectors appointed for that purpose, an examination and inspection of all meat food products prepared for commerce in any slaughtering, meat-canning, salting, packing, rendering, or similar establishment, and for the purposes of any examination and inspection and inspectors shall have access at all times, by day or night, whether the establishment be operated or not, to every part of said establishment; and said inspectors shall mark, stamp, tag, or label as ‘Inspected and passed’ all such products found to be not adulterated; and said inspectors shall label, mark, stamp, or tag as ‘Inspected and condemned’ all such products found adulterated, and all such condemned meat food products shall be destroyed for food purposes, as hereinbefore provided, and the Secretary may remove inspectors from any establishment which fails to so destroy such condemned meat food products:
>
> , That subject to the rules and regulations of the Secretary the provisions of this section in regard to preservatives shall not apply to meat food products for export to any foreign country and which are prepared or packed according to the specifications or directions of the foreign purchaser, when no substance is used in the preparation or packing thereof in conflict with the laws of the foreign country to which said article is to be exported; but if said article shall be in fact sold or offered for sale for domestic use or consumption then this proviso shall not exempt said article from the operation of all the other provisions of this chapter.”
A prior section 606, acts , title I, § 6, formerly 4th par., ; renumbered § 6 and amended , §§ 1, 3, 12(e), , , 588, 592; , , , was formerly classified to and was repealed by , , , and , title XI, § 11016(b)(1)(B), , , 2131. Prior to repeal, section read as follows:
### Amendments
2014—Subsec. (b). added subsec. (b) and struck out former subsec. (b). Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “In the case of an examination and inspection under subsection (a) of a meat food product derived from catfish, the Secretary shall take into account the conditions under which the catfish is raised and transported to a processing establishment.”
## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
### Effective Date of 2014 Amendment
Amendment by effective as if enacted as part of , see , set out as a note under .
### Effective Date
Enactment of this section and repeal of former section 6 of act , and by effective , the date of enactment of , except as otherwise provided, see , set out as a note under , Agriculture.