given to any application for an appeal grading.

[29 F.R. 7860, June 20, 1964]

§ 70.48 Suspension of plant approval.

(a) Any plant approval given pursuant to the regulations in this part may be suspended by the Administrator for (1) failure to maintain plant and equipment in a satisfactory state of repair; (2) the use of operating procedures which are not in accordance with the regulations in this part; or (3) alterations of buildings, facilities, or equipment which cannot be approved in accordance with the regulations in this part.

(b) During such period of suspension, inspection and grading service shall not be rendered. However, the other provisions of the regulations pertaining to providing service on a resident basis will remain in effect unless such service is terminated in accordance with the provisions of this part. If the plant facilities or methods of operation are not brought into compliance within a reasonable period of time, to be specified by the Administrator, the service shall be terminated. Upon termination of inspection or grading service in an official plant pursuant to the regulations in this part, the plant approval shall also become terminated, and all labels, seals, tags or packaging material bearing official identification shall, under the supervision of a person designated by the Service, either be destroyed, or the official identification completely obliterated, or sealed in a manner acceptable to the Service.

[18 F. R. 6915, Nov. 8, 1953, as amended at 21 F. R. 5251, July 14, 1956]

(a) The acts or practices set forth in §§ 70.61 to 70.66 or the causing thereof may be deemed sufficient cause, for the debarment, by the Administrator, of any person, including any agents, officers, subsidiaries, or affiliates of such person from any or all benefits of the act for a specified period, after notice and opportunity for hearing has been accorded him.

(b) Whenever the Administrator has reason to believe that any person, or his employee, agent, or representative has flagrantly or repeatedly committed any of the acts or practices specified in §§ 70.61 to 70.66, he may without hearing, direct that the benefits of the act

be denied such person, including any agents, officers, subsidiaries, or affiliates of such person, pending investigation and hearing and shall give notice thereof by registered mail. A written petition for reconsideration of such interim denial may be filed with the Administrator by any person so denied the benefits of the act within 10 days after notice of the interim denial. Such petition shall state specifically the errors alleged to have been made by the Administrator in denying the benefits of the act pending investigation and hearing. Within 20 days following the receipt of such petition for reconsideration, the Administrator shall reinstate the benefits of the act or notify the petitioner of the reasons for continued interim denial. [20 F. R. 9896, Dec. 23, 1955]

§ 70.61

Misrepresentation, deceptive, or fraudulent acts or practices.

Any wilful misrepresentation or any deceptive or fraudulent act or practice found to be made or committed by any person in connection with:

(a) The making or filing of any application for any grading service or inspection service, appeal or regrading service;

(b) The making of the product accessible for grading or inspection;

(c) The making, issuing, or using, or attempting to issue or use any grading certificate, inspection certificate, symbol, stamp, label, seal or identification, authorized pursuant to the regulations in this part;

(d) The use of the terms "United States," or "U. S." in conjunction with the grade of the product;

(e) The use of any of the aforesaid terms or any official stamp, symbol, label, seal or identification in the labeling or advertising of any product; or

(f) The use of the terms "Government graded," "Federal-State graded," "U. S. inspected," "Government inspected," or terms of similar import in the labeling or advertising of any product. [18 F. R. 6916, Nov. 3, 1953, as amended at 20 F. R. 9897, Dec. 23, 1955]

§ 70.62 Use of facsimile forms.

Using or attempting to use a form which simulates in whole or in part, any certificate, symbol, stamp, label, seal or identification authorized to be issued or used under the regulations in this part. [20 F. R. 9897, Dec. 23, 1955]

Any wilful violation of the regulations in this part or the act.

[20 F. R. 9897, Dec. 23, 1955]

§ 70.64 Interfering with a grader, inspector or employee of Service.

Any interference with or obstruction or any attempted interference or obstruction of or assault upon any grader, licensee, inspector or employee of the Service in the performance of his duties. The giving or offering, directly or indirectly, of any money, loan, gift, or anything of value to an employee of the Service or the making or offering of any contribution to or in any way supplementing the salary, compensation or expenses of an employee of the Service or the offering or entering into a private contract or agreement with an employee of the Service for any services to be rendered while employed by the Service. [22 F. R. 8169, Oct. 16, 1957]

§ 70.65 Misleading labeling.

The use of the terms "Government Graded", "Federal-State Graded", or terms of similar import in the labeling or advertising of any product without stating in the labeling or advertisement, the U.S. grade of the product as determined by an authorized grader.

(20 F. R. 9897, Dec. 23, 1955]

labeling or packaging materials, including the wording used on such materials, shall, when used under this Part 70, be approved in accordance with and conform with the provisions of §§ 81.12681.135 and §§ 81.138-81.148 of this chapter: Provided, That for the purposes of this part, where §§ 81.130, 81.138, 81.141, and 81.143 of this chapter refer to "inspection," "inspector" or "inspection mark," they shall be deemed to refer to "inspection," "inspector" or "inspection mark" and/or "grading," "grader" or “grade mark”, as applicable. [29 F.R. 7860, June 20, 1964]

§ 70.91 Marking graded products.

(a) Information required on grade mark. Except as otherwise authorized by the Administrator, each grade mark which is to be used shall include the letters "USDA" and the U.S. Grade of the product it identifies, such as "U.S. A Grade," and such information shall be printed in a light color on a dark field. In addition, a term, such as "FederalState Graded" or "Government Graded,' may be used adjacent to but not within the grade mark.

(b) Form of official identification symbol and grade mark. (1) The shield set forth in Figure 1 shall be the official identification symbol for purposes of this part, and when used, imitated, or simulated in any manner in connection with poultry, shall be deemed prima facie to constitute a representation that the product has been officially graded for the purposes of § 70.2.

or to the containers in which such products are enclosed for the purpose of display and sale to household consumers, only when such products qualify for the particular grade indicated, in accordance with the consumer grades.

[29 F.R. 7860, June 20, 1964]

§ 70.92 Marking inspected products.

(a) For plants furnished inspection under this part, except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b) of this section, the inspection mark approved for use on inspected and certified edible products shall be contained within the outline of a hexagon and contain the following wording: "USDA Inspected and passed Plant No. Voluntary Poultry Inspection Service." The form and arrangement of such wording shall be as indicated in the example in Figure 4.

U. S. D. A. INSPECTED AND PASSED

Plant Ne.

VOLUNTARY POULTRY

INSPECTION
SERVICE

Federal-State Graded

FIGURE 3.

(c) Products that may be individually grade marked. The grade marks set forth in Figures 2 and 3 may be applied individually to ready-to-cook poultry and specified poultry food products prepared therefrom, for which consumer grades are provided in §§ 70.361 through 70.363,

FIGURE 4.

(b) For plants furnished inspection under this part, the inspection mark approved for use on human food products that consist in part of edible parts of poultry from federally inspected poultry and are exempt from classification as poultry products, as set forth in § 81.208 of this chapter (Regulations Governing the Inspection of Poultry and Poultry Products) promulgated pursuant to the Poultry Products Inspection Act, shall be contained within a circle and include the following wording: "Inspected for Wholesomeness by U.S. Department of Agriculture." The form and arrangement of such wording shall be as indicated in the example in Figure 5. The plant number of the official plant shall be set forth if it does not appear on the packaging material.

[29 F.R. 7860, June 20, 1964]

§ 70.93 Marking dressed poultry.

(a) The Administrator is authorized to prescribe and approve the manner in which dressed poultry which was processed in accordance with minimum standards for sanitation, facilities, and operating procedures in official plants may be marked for identification purposes.

(b) With respect to dressed poultry which has been graded or inspected for condition pursuant to § 70.16, the official identification approved for use shall contain the wording "Dressed PoultryEligible for Further Processing Under USDA Voluntary Poultry Inspection Service." This wording shall be printed on the label and shall not be applied by means of a stencil or rubber stamp. Such identification shall also set forth the applicable plant number and a lot number which shall be the number of the day of the year the poultry was slaughtered, or a coded number to indicate such day of slaughter, the meaning of which shall be made known to the Service. A rubber stamp may be used to insert the plant number and lot number within the official identification, provided such numbers are applied legibly. This identification may be used only on bulk packages of dressed poultry. It shall not be applied to individual carcasses of dressed poultry or to any poultry that has been eviscerated. required wording shall be set forth in the manner indicated in Figure 6 of this section and within a rectangle of the form and design illustrated.

The

§ 70.120 Report of inspection work and grading work.

Reports of the work of inspection and grading carried on within official plants shall be forwarded to the Administrator by the inspector and grader in such manner as may be specified by the Administrator.

[18 F.R. 6917, Nov. 3, 1953]

§ 70.121 Information to be furnished to inspectors and graders.

When inspection service or grading service is performed within an official plant, the applicant for such inspection or grading shall furnish to the inspector or grader rendering such service such information as may be required for the purposes of §§ 70.120 to 70.122. [18 F.R. 6917, Nov. 3, 1953] § 70.122

Reports of violations.

cant for the service in accordance with the applicable provisions of §§ 70.130 to 70.140 and, if so required by the Administrator, such fees and charges shall be paid in advance.

(b) Fees and charges for any grading or inspection performed by any grader or inspector who is a salaried employee of the Department shall, unless otherwise required pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section, be paid by check, draft, or money order payable to the Consumer and Marketing Service and remitted promptly to the Service.

(c) Fees and charges for any grading or inspection pursuant to a cooperative agreement with any State or person shall be paid in accordance with the terms of such cooperative agreement.

[18 F.R. 6917, Nov. 3, 1963; 30 F.R. 6207, May 4, 1965]

§ 70.131

Grading and inspection service on a fee basis.

(a) Grading: Unless otherwise provided the fees to be charged and collected for any grading service (other than for an appeal grading) on a fee basis shall be based on the applicable rates specified in § 70.133. In the event the aforesaid applicable rates specified in § 70.133 are deemed by the Administrator to be inadequate fully to reimburse the Service for all costs and other items paid or incurred by the Service in connection with such grading service, the fees for such service shall not be based on the rates specified in § 70.133, but shall be based on the time required to perform such grading service and the travel of each grader at the rate of $7.20 per hour for the time actually required. The minimum time charged for grading any lot in excess of 180 pounds shall be one-half hour except when grading multiple lots for contract deliveries as provided for in § 70.133.

(b) Inspection: Fees to be charged and collected for inspection services furnished on a fee basis shall be based on the time required to render such service including but not being limited to, the time required for the travel of the inspector or inspectors, in connection therewith, at the rate of $7.20 per hour for each inspector for the time actually required, except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section.

(c) If an applicant requires that any grading or inspection services be performed on a holiday, Saturday, Sunday, or between the hours of 5 p.m. and 7 a.m., Monday through Friday, he shall be

charged for such service at the rate of $7.20 per hour.

[31 F.R. 10108, July 27, 1966]

§ 70.132 Fees for appeal grading.

The fees to be charged for any appeal grading shall be double the fee specified in the grading certificate from which the appeal is taken: Provided, That the fee for any appeal grading requested by the United States, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall be not more than that set forth in the grading certificate from which the appeal is taken. If the fee on the certificate from which the appeal is taken is based on the provisions of § 70.138, then the fee for such appeal grading shall be double the amount specified in § 70.133 for the applicable volume of product appeal graded. If the result of any appeal grading discloses that a material error was made in the grading appealed from, no fee shall be required.

[21 F.R. 5251, July 14, 1956]

§ 70.133 Poultry grading fees.

For each grading for class, quality, or condition of any lot of poultry, whether live, dressed, or ready-to-cook, the following fees shall be applicable, except that in instances where more than one lot of product is involved in a single grading for contract acceptance of product to be delivered to an individual receiver, the charge for examining these lots in excess of one may be based on the time required, at the rate specified in § 70.131 (a) or (c), whichever is applicable: