Senate Bill 364

Committee Chair: Tom McCall

Committee:Agriculture & Consumer Affairs

House Sponsor: Billy Maddox

Senate Sponsor: John Bulloch

Chairman McCall’s opinion of the legislation:

This bill changes the classification and location of references to ratites. Ratites are flightless birds, including, but not limited to, ostriches, emus and rheas. Ratites fall under the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) with USDA Food Safety and Inspection Services (USDA FSIS). Currently, ratites are classified as livestock under the Georgia Code. This bill strikes ratites from several code sections defining and dealing with livestock. Under this bill, ratites are defined as poultry within the Code and are regulated as poultry for agriculture inspection purposes.

This bill comes to the House Floor under the Open Rule.