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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 2, 2021 02:50 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Cris Dush |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Defining Regulatory Oversight of Micro Markets |
| In the near future I will be introducing legislation to limit the regulatory oversight of Micro Markets to the Department of Agriculture. Vending machines and unattended self-checkout establishments, commonly known as micro markets, are in a quickly innovating space which has led to confusion as to how they should be regulated. These locations do not engage in food preparation, only sell prepackaged food, and are generally located in a secured location such as an office building not open to the public. Because of the language of current law, many of these locations may be seen by regulators to fall under the regulatory authority of the Department of Public Health and be subjected to overburdensome regulations designed for restaurants and other food service and preparation establishments even though they do not provide food preparation on-site. The intent of this legislation is to provide a definition of micro markets and vending machines, and clarification as to how these locations should be regulated from a public health and licensing standpoint that promotes food safety and convenience. This bill would allow for micro markets and vending machines offering certain types of food to be subject to food safety regulation by the Department of Agriculture, while eliminating the need for health inspections, pre-inspection licensing, plan and review processes and other regulations not designed for these types of locations. |