MAIN STATION No. This certificate is receivable by all officers and all Courts of the United States as prima facie evidence of the truth of the statements therein contained. (This certificate does not excuse failure to comply with any of the regulatory laws enforced by the United States Department of Agriculture.) TO: APPLICANT SHIPPER OR SELLER RECEIVER OR BUYER ESTABLISHMENT NO. ADDRESS ADDRESS ADDRESS LOCATION USDA GRADE warded to a central office designated by the Chief, and such copies shall be kept on file until other disposition is ordered by the Administrator. Additional copies will be furnished to any person financially interested in the products involved upon the payment of fees as provided in § 53.29(g). [34 F.R. 19337, Dec. 6, 1969] § 53.17 Advance information concerning service rendered. Upon request of any applicant, all or any part of the contents of any certificate issued to him under the regulations, or other notification concerning the determination of class, grade, other quality, or compliance of livestock or products for such applicant may be transmitted by telegraph or telephone to him, or to any person designated by him, at his expense. [24 F.R. 5280, June 30, 1959, as amended at 30 F.R, 4157, Mar. 31, 1965] § 53.18 Marking of products. All products for which class and grade under the standards in Subpart B of this part, or compliance, is determined under the regulations, or the immediate and shipping containers thereof, shall be stamped, branded, or otherwise marked with an appropriate official identification: Provided, That except as otherwise directed by the Chief, such marking will not be required when an applicant only desires official certificates. The marking of products, or their containers, as required by this section shall be done by official graders or under their immediate supervision. § 53.19 Official identifications. (a) A shield enclosing the letters "USDA" and code identification letters of the grader performing the service, as shown below, constitutes a form of official identification under the regulations for preliminary grade of carcasses wholesale cuts. USDA U F Figure 1. and (b) A shield enclosing the letters "USDA" as shown below with the appropriate quality grade designation "Prime," "Choice," "Good," "Standard," "Commercial," "Utility," "Cutter," "Canner," or "Cull," as provided in the standards in Subpart B of this part and accompanied when necessary by the class designation "Stag," "Bull," "Veal," "Calf," "Yearling Mutton," or "Mutton," constitutes a form of official identification under the regulations to show the quality grade, and where necessary the class, under said standards, of steer, heifer, and cow beef, stag beef, bull beef, veal, calf, lamb, yearling mutton, and mutton. The code identification letters of the grader performing the service will appear intermittently outside the shield. USDA U F Figure 2. (c) A shield enclosing the letters "USDA" and the words "Yield Grade," as shown below, with the appropriate cutability (yield) grade designation "1," "2," "3," "4," or "5" as provided in the standards in Subpart B of this part constitutes a form of official identification under the regulations to show the cutability (yield) grade under said standards. The code identification letters of the grader performing the service will appear outside the shield. the regulations to show the grade under said standards, of barrow, gilt, and sow pork carcasses. USDA Figure 2. (e) The following constitute forms of official identification under the regulations to show compliance of products: USDA ACCEPTED AS SPECIFIED AC Figure 1 U.S.D.A. EXAMINED AS CERTIFIED XE Figure 2 USDA UF Figure 3 USDA PRE-IDENT FEDERAL PURCHASE UF Figure 4 U.S.D.A PRE. IDENT. Figure 5 The letters "AC," "XE," and "UF" shown in figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 are examples, respectively, of the code identification letters of the official grader performing the service. [34 FR. 19338, Dec. 6, 1969] § 53.20 Custody of identification devices. All identification devices used in marking products or the containers thereof under the regulations, including those indicating compliance with specifications approved by the Chief, shall be kept in the custody of the Branch, and accurate records shall be kept by the Branch of all such devices. Each office of grading shall keep a record of the devices assigned to it. Such devices shall be distributed only to persons authorized by the Department, who shall keep the devices in their possession or control at all times and maintain complete records of such devices. [34 F.R. 19339, Dec. 6, 1969] § 53.21 APPEAL SERVICE What is appeal service; marking products on appeal; requirements for appeal; certain determinations not appealable. (a) Appeal service is a redetermination of the class, grade, other quality, or compliance of product when the applicant for the appeal service formally challenges the correctness of the original determination. Only a person who has title to, or is a party to a contract for the sale of, a product may request appeal service with respect to such product and if the original determination of class, grade, other quality or compliance is found on appeal to have been in error all incorrect marks of class, grade, other quality and compliance will be removed from the product, and if the person having title to the product so requests, correct marks as determined on the appeal will be applied to the product. Examination requested to determine the class, grade, other quality, or compliance of a product which has been altered or has undergone a material change since the original service, or examination of product requested for the purpose of obtaining an up-to-date certificate and not involving any question as to the correctness of the original service for the product involved, shall be considered equivalent to original service and not appeal service. (b) Grade determinations for the following cannot be appealed: any lot of a product consisting of less than ten similar units; wholesale cuts, or other subdivisions of meat originally graded as larger units; and veal and calf carcasses originally graded with hides on. Moreover, appeal service will not be furnished with respect to product that has been altered or has undergone any material change since the original service. § 53.22 Request for appeal service. Except as otherwise provided in § 53.21, a request for appeal service with respect to any product under the regulations may be made by any person who is financially interested in the product when he disagrees with the determination as to class, grade, other quality, or compliance of the product as shown by the markings on the product or its containers, or as stated in the applicable certificate. A request for appeal service shall be filed with the Chief, directly or through the official grader who performed the original service or the official in charge of the office of grading to which such grader was assigned at the time of the service, or through the nearest office of grading. The request shall state the reasons therefor and may be accompanied by a copy of any previous certificate or report, or any other information which the applicant may have received regarding the product at the time of the original service. Such request may be made orally (including by telephone) or in writing (including by telegram). If made orally, the person receiving the request may require that it be confirmed in writing. Requests for appeal service received through an official grader or an office of grading shall be transmitted promptly to the Chief for instructions. § 53.23 When request for appeal service may be withdrawn. A request for appeal service may be withdrawn by the applicant at any time before the appeal service has been performed, upon payment of any expenses already incurred under the regulations by the Branch in connection therewith. § 53.24 Denial or withdrawal of appeal service. A request for appeal service may be rejected or such service may be otherwise denied to or withdrawn from any person, without a hearing, in accordance with the procedure set forth in § 53.13(b), if it shall appear that the person or product involved is not eligible for appeal service under § 53.21, or that the identity of the product has been lost; or for any of the causes set forth in § 53.13(b). Appeal service may also be denied to, or withdrawn from, any person in any case under § 53.13(a), in accordance with the procedure set forth in said section. § 53.25 Who shall perform appeal service. Appeal service for products shall be performed by official graders designated by the Chief or by the official in charge of an office of grading when so authorized by the Chief, and shall be conducted jointly by two official graders, or more Immediately after appeal service has been performed for any products, a certificate designated as an "appeal certificate" shall be prepared, signed, and issued referring specifically to the original certificate and stating the class, grade, other quality, or compliance of the products as shown by the appeal service. § 53.27 Susperseded certificates. The appeal certificate shall supersede the original certificate which, thereupon, shall become null and void and shall not thereafter be deemed to show the class, grade, other quality, or compliance of the products described therein. However, the fees charged for the original service shall not be remitted. If the original and all copies of the superseded certificate are not delivered to the official with whom the request for appeal service is filed, the official graders issuing the appeal certificate shall forward notice of such issuance and of the cancellation of the original certificate to such persons as they may deem necessary to prevent fraudulent use of the superseded certificate. § 53.28 Application of other regulations to appeal service. The regulations in §§ 53.1 through 53.20 and §§ 53.29 through 53.32 shall apply to appeal service except insofar as they are manifestly inapplicable. CHARGES FOR SERVICE Fees and other charges equal as nearly as may be to the cost of the services rendered shall be assessed and collected from applicants in accordance with the following provisions unless otherwise provided in the cooperative agreement under which the services are furnished, or as provided in § 53.8. (a) Fees based on hourly rates. Except as otherwise provided in this section, fees for service shall be based on the time required to render the service, calculated to the nearest 15-minute period, including the time required for the preparation of certificates and travel of the official grader in connection with the performance of the service. A minimum charge for one-half hour shall be made for service pursuant to each request notwithstanding that the time required to perform the service may be less than 30 minutes. The base hourly rate shall be $12.40 per hour for work performed between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, except on legal holidays; $14.60 per hour for work performed before 6 a.m. or after 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and anytime Saturday or Sunday except on legal holidays; and $24.80 per hour for all work performed on legal holidays. (b) Fees for service on commitment basis. Minimum fees for service performed under a commitment agreement shall be on the basis of 8 hours per day, Monday through Friday, calculated at the hourly rates in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section. Hours worked on Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays, and in excess of 8 hours per day will be charged at the appropriate hourly rate in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section. The Agricultural Marketing Service reserves the right under such a commitment to use any grader assigned to the plant on a commitment basis to perform service for other applicants as provided in § 53.8(c), crediting the commitment applicant with the number of hours charged to the other applicants, provided the allowable credit hours, plus hours actually worked for the applicants, do not exceed 8 hours on any day, Monday through Friday. (c) Travel charges. (1) When service is requested at a place so distant from an official grader's headquarters or place of prior assignment on a circuit routing, that a total of one-half hour or more is required for the grader to travel to such place and back to the headquarters or to the next place of assignment on a circuitous routing, the charge for such service shall include a mileage charge at 9 cents per mile, and travel tolls if applicable, for such travel prorated against all the applicants furnished the service involved on an equitable basis, or, where the travel is made by public transportation (including hired vehicle), a fee equal to the actual cost thereof. (d) Per diem charges. When service is requested at a place so distant from an official grader's headquarters that the work and travel required for such service cannot be performed within a calendar day, the fee for such services shall include a per diem charge to be deter |