The Secretary may, by regulation and under such conditions and procedures as he may prescribe, exempt from specific provisions of this chapter—

(1) the sale, transportation, possession, or use of eggs which contain no more restricted eggs than are allowed by the tolerance in the official standards of United States consumer grades for shell eggs;

(2) the processing of egg products at any plant where the facilities and operating procedures meet such sanitary standards as may be prescribed by the Secretary, and where the eggs received or used in the manufacture of egg products contain no more restricted eggs than are allowed by the official standards of United States consumer grades for shell eggs, and the egg products processed at such plant;

(3) the sale of eggs by any poultry producer from his own flocks directly to a household consumer exclusively for use by such consumer and members of his household and his nonpaying guests and employees, and the transportation, possession, and use of such eggs in accordance with this paragraph;

(4) the processing of egg products by any poultry producer from eggs of his own flocks’ production for sale of such products directly to a household consumer exclusively for use by such consumer and members of his household and his nonpaying guests and employees, and the egg products so processed when handled in accordance with this paragraph;

(5) the sale of eggs by shell egg packers on his own premises directly to household consumers for use by such consumer and members of his household and his nonpaying guests and employees, and the transportation, possession, and use of such eggs in accordance with this paragraph;

(6) for such period of time (not to exceed two years) during the initiation of operations under this chapter as the Secretary determines that it is impracticable to provide inspection, the processing of egg products at any class of plants and the egg products processed at such plants; and

(7) the sale of eggs by any egg producer with an annual egg production from a flock of three thousand or less hens.

The Secretary shall, by regulation and under such procedures as he may prescribe, exempt any plant located within noncontiguous areas of the United States from specific provisions of this chapter, where, despite good faith efforts by the owner of such plant, such owner has not been able to bring his plant into full compliance with this chapter: Provided, That in order to provide at least minimum standards for the protection of the public health, whenever processing operations are being conducted at any such plant, continuous inspection shall be maintained to assure that it is operated in a sanitary manner. No exemption under this subsection shall be granted for a period extending beyond December 31, 1971.

The Secretary may immediately suspend or terminate any exemption under paragraph (a)(2) or (6) [1] of this section at any time with respect to any person, if the conditions of exemption prescribed by this section or the regulations of the Secretary are not being met. The Secretary may modify or revoke any regulation granting exemption under this chapter whenever he deems such action appropriate to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.

(Pub. L. 91–597, § 15, Dec. 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 1629; Pub. L. 92–67, Aug. 6, 1971, 85 Stat. 173.)