USDA revises 46 standards for grades of specialty crops

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is announcing revisions to 46 grade standards for fruits, vegetables, nuts and other specialty crops.  Grade standards are voluntary guidelines or specifications that an industry may request to provide growers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers with a uniform language describing the size, quality and condition of commodities in the marketplace.  Grade standards are especially helpful in cases where farmers need to market perishable products in the most efficient manner.
 

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is announcing revisions to 33 fresh fruit and vegetable grade standards, ten fresh fruit and vegetable for processing grade standards, and three nut and specialty crops grade standards.  This change will eliminate the “Unclassified” section in the affected U.S. grade standards and modernize the standards by removing a category that is not a grade.
 

AMS works with industry representatives and others to establish or revise U.S. standards for nearly 240 agricultural products. The industry uses the standards in the marketplace to specify the quality of commodities. The standards facilitate commerce by providing a common language for trade and a means of measuring value in the marketing of agricultural products.
 

The rule revising the grade standards will be published in the Sept. 2, 2015,Federal Register. Comments may be submitted to www.regulations.gov by Nov. 2, 2015.