Marvin Mandel, Governor                            851

and sufficient bond, conditioned upon the obligation that the article
shall be properly labeled or processed, has been executed, the court
may by order direct that the article be delivered to the claimant
thereof for proper labeling or processing under the supervision of
an agent of the Secretary. The expense of the supervision shall be
paid for by the claimant, and the payment of the expense shall be
an obligation of the aforementioned bond. The article shall be
returned to the claimant and the bond shall be discharged on the
representation to the court by the Secretary that the article is no
longer in violation of this subheading, and that the expenses of
supervision have been paid.

(d) Whenever the Secretary or any of his authorized agents
determines that any meat, seafood, poultry, vegetable, fruit or other
perishable articles intended for consumption as human food contain
any filthy, decomposed or putrid substance, or are poisonous or would,
if consumed, be injurious to health or otherwise unsafe, the same
being hereby declared to be a nuisance, the Secretary, or his au-
thorized agent, shall forthwith destroy the same, or in some other
manner render the same unusable as human food. The owner of
the article shall have a cause of action against the Secretary for
the market value of any article or articles so destroyed or otherwise
rendered unusable as human food, measured as of the date thereof,
if the owner of the article can prove by a preponderance of the
evidence that the article did not, at the time of the destruction or
other disposition, contain any filthy, decomposed or putrid substance,
and that the article was not poisonous, and that the article would
not, if consumed, be injurious to health or otherwise unsafe; and
the State of Maryland hereby waives its sovereign immunity
to the extent of the cause of action granted in this subsection, but
in no further or other respect. The cause of action granted by this
subsection shall lie only against the Secretary in his official capacity,
and the Secretary shall have no personal liability for the payment
of any judgment entered in any action brought pursuant to this
subsection.

187F.

It is the duty of each State's attorney to whom the Secretary
reports any violation of this subheading, to cause appropriate pro-
ceedings to be instituted in the proper court without delay and to be
prosecuted in the manner required by law. Before any violation
of this subheading is reported to the State's attorney for the institu-
tion of a criminal proceeding, the person against whom the pro-
ceeding is contemplated shall be given appropriate notice and an
opportunity to present his views before the Secretary or his desig-
nated agent, either orally or in writing, in person, or by attorney,
with regard to the contemplated proceeding.

187G.

Nothing in this subheading shall be construed as requiring the
Secretary to report minor violations of this subheading for the in-
stitution of proceedings under this subheading if the Secretary be-
lieves that the public interest will be adequately served in the cir-
cumstances by a suitable written notice or warning.