(1) Prior to being issued a direct retail endorsement, an individual must:

     (a) Obtain and submit to the department a signed letter on appropriate letterhead from the health department of the county in which the individual makes his or her official residence or where the hailing port for any documented vessel owned by the individual is located as to the fulfillment of all requirements related to county health rules, including the payment of all required fees. The local health department generating the letter may charge a reasonable fee for any necessary inspections. The letter must certify that the methods used by the individual to transport, store, and display any fresh retail-eligible species meets that county's standards and the statewide standards adopted by the board of health for food service operations; and

     (b) Submit proof to the department that the individual making the direct retail sales is in possession of a valid food and beverage service worker's permit, as provided for in chapter 69.06 RCW.

     (2) The requirements of subsection (1) of this section must be completed each license year before a renewal direct retail endorsement can be issued.

     (3) Any individual possessing a direct retail endorsement must notify the local health department of the county in which retail sales are to occur, except for the county that conducted the initial inspection, forty-eight hours before any transaction and make his or her facilities available for inspection by a fish and wildlife officer, the local health department of any county in which he or she sells any legally harvested retail-eligible species, and any designee of the department of health or the department of agriculture.

     (4) Neither the department or a local health department may be held liable in any judicial proceeding alleging that consumption of or exposure to seafood sold by the holder of a direct retail endorsement resulted in a negative health consequence, as long as the department can show that the individual holding the direct retail endorsement complied with the requirements of subsection (1) of this section prior to being issued his or her direct retail license, and neither the department nor a local health department acted in a reckless manner. For the purposes of this subsection, the department or a local health district shall not be deemed to be acting recklessly for not conducting a permissive inspection.

[2003 c 387 § 3; 2002 c 301 § 3.]

NOTES:

     Finding -- Effective date -- 2002 c 301: See notes following RCW 77.65.510.