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condition as the circumstances may warrant.

855.360 Certificates.

Certificates (including appeal certificates) shall be issued on forms approved by the Administrator.

855.370 Certificate issuance.

(a) Resident service. Certificates will be issued only upon a request therefor by the applicant or AMS. When requested, an inspector shall issue a certificate covering product inspected by him. In addition, an inspector may issue a certificate covering product inspected in whole or in part by another inspector when the inspector has knowledge that the product is eligible for certification based on personal examination of the product or official inspection records.

(b) Other than resident service. Each inspector shall, in person or by his authorized agent, issue a certificate covering each product inspected by him. An inspector's name may be signed on a certificate by a person other than the inspector, if such person has been designated as the authorized agent of such inspector by the National Supervisor: Provided, That the certificate is prepared from an official memorandum of inspection signed by the inspector: And provided further, That a notarized power of attorney authorizing such signature has been issued to such person by the inspector and is on file in the office of the service. In such case, the authorized agent shall sign both his own and the inspector's name, e.g., "John Doe by Richard Roe."

§ 55.380 Disposition of certificates.

The original and a copy of each certificate, issued pursuant to §55.370 and not to exceed two additional copies thereof if requested by the applicant prior to issuance, shall, immediately upon issuance, be delivered or mailed to the applicant or person designated by him. Other copies shall be filed and retained in accordance with the dis

position schedule for inspection program records.

[36 FR 11795, June 19, 1971. Redesignated at 42 FR 32514, June 27, 1977 and further redesignated at 46 FR 63203, Dec. 31, 1981, as amended at 47 FR 46069, Oct. 15, 1982; 47 FR 54421, Dec. 3, 1982]

$55.390 Advance information.

Upon request of an applicant, all or part of the contents of any certificate issued to such applicant may be telephoned or telegraphed to him, or to any person designated by him, at his expense.

APPEALS

§ 55.400 Who may request an appeal grading or inspection or review of a grader's or inspector's decision.

An appeal grading or inspection may be requested by any interested party who is dissatisfied with the determination by a grader or inspector of the class, quality, quantity, or condition of any product, as evidenced by the USDA inspection mark and accompanying label, or as stated on a certificate and a review may be requested by the operator of an official plant with respect to a grader's or inspector's decision or on any other matter related to grading or inspection in the official plant.

855.410 Where to file an appeal.

(a) Appeal of resident grader's or inspector's grading or decision in an official plant. Any interested party who is not satisfied with the determination of the class, quality, quantity, or condition of product which was graded or inspected by a grader or inspector in an official plant and has not left such plant, and the operator of any official plant who is not satisfied with a decision by a grader or inspector on any other matter relating to grading or inspection in such plant may request an appeal grading or inspection or review of the decision by the grader or inspector by filing such request with the grader's or inspector's immediate supervisor.

(b) All other appeal requests. Any interested party who is not satisfied with the determination of the class, quality,

quantity, or condition of product which has left the official plant where it was graded or inspected or which was graded or inspected other than in an official plant may request an appeal grading or inspection by filing such request with the Regional Director in the region where the product is located or with the Chief of the Grading Branch.

[36 FR 11795, June 19, 1971. Redesignated at 42 FR 32514, June 27, 1977, and further redesignated at 46 FR 63203, Dec. 31, 1981, as amended at 60 FR 49168, Sept. 21, 1995]

§ 55.420 How to file an appeal.

The request for an appeal grading or inspection or review of a grader's or inspector's decision may be made orally or in writing. If made orally, written confirmation may be required. The applicant shall clearly state the identity of the product, the decision which is questioned, and the reason(s) for requesting the appeal service. If such appeal request is based on the results stated on an official certificate, the original and all copies of the certificate available at the appeal grading or inspection site shall be provided to the appeal grader or inspector assigned to make the appeal grading or inspection. [60 FR 49168, Sept. 21, 1995]

§ 55.430 When an application for an appeal grading or inspection may be refused.

When it appears to the official with whom an appeal request is filed that the reasons given in the request are frivolous or not substantial, class, quality, quantity, or that the condition of the product has undergone a material change since the original grading or inspection, or that the original lot has changed in some manner, or the Act or the regulations in this part have not been complied with, the applicant's request for the appeal grading or inspection may be refused. In such case, the applicant shall be promptly notified of the reason(s) for refusal.

[36 FR 11795, June 19, 1971. Redesignated at 42 FR 32514, June 27, 1977, and further redesignated at 46 FR 63203, Dec. 31, 1981, as amended at 60 FR 49168, Sept. 21, 1995]

§ 55.440 Who shall perform the appeal.

(a) An appeal grading or inspection or review of a decision requested under § 55.410(a) shall be made by the grader's or inspector's immediate supervisor or by a licensed grader or inspector assigned by the immediate supervisor other than the grader or inspector whose grading or inspection or decision is being appealed.

(b) Appeal gradings or inspections requested under §55.410(b) shall be performed by a grader or inspector other than the grader or inspector who originally graded or inspected the product.

(c) Whenever practical, an appeal grading or inspection shall be conducted jointly by two graders or inspectors. The assignment of the grader(s) or inspector(s) who will make the appeal grading or inspection under § 55.410(b) shall be made by the Regional Director or the Chief of the Grading Branch.

855.450 Procedures for selecting appeal samples.

(a) Prohibition on movement of product. Products shall not have been moved from the place where the grading or inspection being appealed was performed and must have been maintained under adequate refrigeration, when applicable.

(b) Laboratory analyses. The appeal sample shall consist of product taken from the original sample containers plus an equal number of containers selected at random. When the original sample containers cannot be located, the appeal sample shall consist of product taken at random from double the number of original sample containers.

(c) Condition inspection. The appeal sample shall consist of product taken from the original sample containers plus an equal number of containers selected at random. A condition appeal cannot be made unless all originally sampled containers are available.

[36 FR 11795, June 19, 1971. Redesignated at 42 FR 32514, June 27, 1977, and further redesignated at 46 FR 63203, Dec. 31, 1981, as amended at 60 FR 49168, Sept. 21, 1995]

$55.460 Appeal certificates.

Immediately after an appeal grading or inspection is completed, an appeal certificate shall be issued to show that

the original grading or inspection was sustained or was not sustained. Such certificate shall supersede any previously issued certificate for the product involved and shall clearly identify the number and date of the superseded certificate. The issuance of the appeal certificate may be withheld until any previously issued certificate and all copies have been returned when such action is deemed necessary to protect the interest of the Government. When the appeal grader or inspector assigns a different class to the lot or determines that a net weight shortage exists, the lot shall be retained pending correction of the labeling or approval of the product disposition by the National Supervisor.

[36 FR 11795, June 19, 1971. Redesignated at 42 FR 32514, June 27, 1977, and further redesignated at 46 FR 63203, Dec. 31, 1981, as amended at 60 FR 49168, Sept. 21, 1995]

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(b) Fees and charges for any service shall, unless otherwise required pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section, be paid by check, draft, or money order payable to the Agricultural Marketing Service and remitted promptly to AMS.

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

[36 FR 11795, June 19, 1971, as amended at 42 FR 2969, Jan. 14, 1977. Redesignated at 42 FR 32514, June 27, 1977, and further redesignated at 46 FR 63203, Dec. 31, 1981]

$55.510 Fees and charges for services other than on a continuous resident basis.

(a) Unless otherwise provided in this part, the fees to be charged and collected for any service (other than for

an appeal) performed, in accordance with this part on a fee basis shall be based on the applicable rates specified in §§ 55.510 through 55.560, both inclusive.

(b) Fees for product inspection and sampling for laboratory analysis will be based on the time required to perform the services. The hourly charge shall be $33.64 and shall include the time actually required to perform the sampling and inspection, waiting time, travel time, and any clerical costs involved in issuing a certificate.

(c) Services rendered on Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays shall be charged for at the rate of $35.52 per hour. Information on legal holidays is available from the Supervisor.

(d) The cost of an appeal grading, inspection, laboratory analysis, or review of a grader's or inspector's decision shall be borne by the appellant at an hourly rate of $27.36 for time spent performing the appeal and travel time to and from the site of the appeal, plus any additional expenses. If the appeal grading, inspection, laboratory analysis, or review of a grader's or inspector's decision discloses that a material error was made in the original determination, no fee or expenses will be charged.

[36 FR 11795, June 19, 1971. Redesignated at 42 FR 32514, June 27, 1977, as amended at 46 FR 8, Jan. 2, 1981. Redesignated at 46 FR 63203, Dec. 31, 1981, as amended at 59 FR 52637, Oct. 18, 1994]

§ 55.530 Travel expenses and other charges.

Charges are to be made to cover the cost of travel and other expenses incurred by the Department in connection with rendering grading service. Such charges shall include the costs of transportation, per diem, shipping containers, postage, and any other expenses.

[42 FR 2969, Jan. 14, 1977. Redesignated at 42 FR 32514, June 27, 1977, as amended at 46 FR 8, Jan. 2, 1981. Redesignated at 46 FR 63203, Dec. 31, 1981]

$55.560 Charges for continuous inspection and grading service on a resident basis.

Fees to be charged and collected for service on a resident basis shall be

those provided in this section. The fees to be charged for any appeal grading or inspection shall be as provided in § 55.510.

(a) Charges. The charges for the service shall be paid by the applicant and shall include items listed in this section as are applicable. Payment for the full cost of the service rendered to the applicant shall be made by the applicant to the Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Such full costs shall comprise such of the items listed in this section as are due and included in the bill or bills covering the period or periods during which the grading and inspection service was rendered. Bills will be rendered by the 10th day following the end of the billing period in which the service was rendered and are payable upon receipt.

(1) An inauguration charge of $310 will be made at the time an application for service is signed except when the application is required because of a change in name or ownership. If service is not installed within 6 months from the date the application is filed, or if service is inactive due to an approved request for removal of a grader(s) or inspector(s) for a period of 6 months, the application will be considered terminated, but a new application may be filed at any time. In addition, there will be a charge of $300 if the application is terminated at the request of the applicant for reasons other than for a change in location, within 12 months from the date of the inauguration of service.

(2) A charge for the salary and other costs, as specified in this subparagraph, for each grader or inspector while assigned to a plant, except that no charge will be made when the assigned grader or inspector is temporarily reassigned by AMS to perform grading or inspection service for other than the applicant. Base salary rates will be determined on a national average for all official plants operating in States under a Federal Trust Fund Agreement where Federal graders, State graders, or a combination of Federal and State graders are used, by averaging the salary rates paid to each Federal or State grader assigned to such plants. Charges to plants are as follows:

(i) For all regular hours of work scheduled and approved as an established tour of duty for a plant, the regular rate charge will be made. The regular rate charge will be determined by adding an amount to the base salary rate to cover the costs to AMS for such items as the Employer's Tax imposed under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C.) for Old Age and Survivor's Benefits under the Social Security System, retirement benefits, groups life insurance, severance pay, sick leave, annual leave, additional salary and travel costs for relief grading service, accident payments, certain moving costs, and related servicing costs.

(ii) All hours worked by an assigned grader or inspector or another grader or inspector in excess of the approved tour of duty, or worked on a nonscheduled workday, or actually worked on a holiday in excess of the tour of duty, will be considered as overtime. The charge for such overtime will be 150 percent of the grader's or inspector's base salary rate.

(iii) For work performed on a holiday which is within the established tour of duty approved for a plant, the added charge will be the same as the grader's or inspector's base rate.

(iv) For work performed between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., night differential charges (for regular, overtime, or holiday hours worked during this period) will be at the applicable rates established plus 10 percent of the base rate.

(v) For work performed on Sunday, Sunday differential charges (for regular, overtime, or holiday hours worked on Sunday) will be at the applicable rates established plus 25 percent of the base rate.

(vi) For all hours of work performed in a plant without an approved tour of duty, the charge will be one of the applicable hourly rates in § 55.510.

(3) An administrative service charge equal to 25 percent of the grader's or inspector's total salary costs. A minimum charge of $215 will be made each billing period. The minimum charge also applies where an approved application is in effect and no product is handled.

(b) Other provisions. (1) The applicant shall designate in writing the employees of the applicant who will be required and authorized to furnish each grader or inspector with such information as may be necessary for the performance of the service.

(2) AMS will provide, as available, an adequate number of graders or inspectors to perform the service. The number of graders or inspectors required will be determined by AMS based on the expected demand for service.

(3) The service shall be provided at designated locations and shall be continued until the service is suspended, withdrawn, or terminated by:

(i) Mutual consent;

(ii) Thirty (30) days' written notice, by either the applicant or AMS specifying the date of suspension, withdrawal, or termination;

(iii) One (1) day's written notice by AMS to the applicant if the applicant fails to honor any invoice within thirty (30) days after date of invoice covering the cost of the grading and inspection service; or

(iv) Action taken by AMS pursuant to the provisions of § 55.180 or § 55.200.

(4) Graders or inspectors will be required to confine their activities to those duties necessary in the rendering of service and such closely related activities as may be approved by the Administrator.

(5) When similar services are furnished to the same applicant under part 56 or part 70 of this chapter, the charges listed in this section shall not be repeated.

[36 FR 11795, June 19, 1971. Redesignated at 42 FR 32514, June 27, 1977, and further redesignated at 46 FR 63203, Dec. 31, 1981]

EDITORIAL NOTE: For FEDERAL REGISTER Citations affecting §55.560, see the List of CFR Sections Affected in the Finding Aids section of this volume.

$55.570 Fees for service performed under cooperative agreement.

The fees to be charged and collected for any service performed under cooperative agreement shall be those provided for by such agreement.

SANITARY AND PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS

855.600 General.

Except as otherwise approved by the Administrator, the sanitary, processing, and facility requirements, as applicable, shall be the same for the product processed under this part as for egg products processed under §§ 59.500 through 59.580(c) of this chapter and §55.650.

855.650 Inspection and grading.

Examinations of the ingredients, processing, and the product shall be made to assure the production of a wholesome, unadulterated, and properly labeled product. Such examinations include, but are not being limited to:

(a) Sanitation checks of plant premises, facilities, equipment, and processing operations.

(b) Checks on ingredients and additives used in products to assure that they are not adulterated, are fit for use as human food, and are stored, handled, and used in a sanitary manner.

(c) Examination of the eggs or egg products used in the products to assure they are wholesome, not adulterated, and comply with the temperature, pasteurization, or other applicable requirements.

(d) Inspection during the processing and production of the product to determine compliance with any applicable standard or specification for such product.

(e) Examination during processing of the product to assure compliance with approved formulas and labeling.

(f) Test weighing and organoleptic examinations of finished product.

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