N.Y. Agriculture & Markets Law § 251-z-3: Licenses; fees

§ 251-z-3. Licenses; fees. 1. a. 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.

A renewal application shall be submitted to the commissioner at least

thirty days prior to the commencement of the next license period.

b. The applicant shall furnish evidence of the applicant's 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. The

commissioner shall waive the license fee for two years for a first time

applicant that processes food in a kitchen incubator food processing

facility, which for the purposes of this section is a food processing

facility used by multiple small and emerging food processing businesses,

including both full-time facility tenants and businesses that rent space

on a temporary basis. The commissioner shall prorate the license fee

paid by an applicant, if the applicant's food processing establishment

has as its only full time employees the owner or the parent, spouse, or

child of the owner, and/or not more than two full time employees, and if

that applicant vacates a food processing establishment six months or

more prior to the expiration of the license period, and, within one year

of vacating such establishment, applies for a new license associated

with another food processing establishment, provided the applicant's

license has not been suspended or revoked pursuant to section two

hundred fifty-one-z-five of this article. The commissioner may establish

rules and regulations governing the prorating of such fees and/or the

application of such fees from a prior license to a new one.

Notwithstanding the preceding, an applicant that is a chain store shall

pay a license fee of one hundred dollars if its license expires six

months or less from the date its license period began, two hundred

dollars if its license expires between six months and one year from the

date its license period began, three hundred dollars if its license

expires between one year and eighteen months from the date its license

period began, or four hundred dollars if its license expires between

eighteen months and two years from the date its license period began.

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 for two years from such

date. Notwithstanding the preceding, a license issued to an applicant

that is a chain store shall expire on the date set forth on the

application form prescribed by the commissioner for such applicant.

c. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an applicant

that is a "small-scale processor" shall pay a license fee of one hundred

seventy-five dollars per facility. For the purposes of this section, a

"small-scale processor" shall be defined as a processor which operates a

food processing establishment that is not exempt from licensing pursuant

to section two hundred fifty-one-z-four of this article, is not a chain

store, and employs no more than ten full time employees.

2. The provisions of this section shall not apply to processors of

syrup made from tree sap or honey who do not purchase syrup made from

tree sap or honey from others for repackaging, and who do not combine

syrup made from tree sap or honey with any other ingredients capable of

supporting the growth of infectious or toxigenic organisms, provided

that such establishments are maintained in a sanitary condition and

manner.