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Under the Poultry Products Inspection Act, enacted
August 28, 195J, USDA provides compulsory Federal inspection of poultry and poultry products that are shipped in
interstate or foreign commerce. The Wholesome Poultry Products Act amended the law to
strengthen it and to open the way for vastly improved State poultry inspection systems. States developed there own inspection system that was equal to the Federal inspection programs. Administration of mandatory Federal inspection is assigned to the Meat and Poultry Inspection Program of USDA's Consumer and Marketing Service. All poultry slaughtered for human food which is destined for sale in commerce must be processed and handled in accordance with the Act and its regulations. Federal inspection service performed under the Act, except for overtime and holiday work, is paid for by the Government. Poultry grading service is available to the industry on two bases: One is the fee basis and the other is the resident or continuous grading basis. Fee grading is performed on the basis of request from applicants for the grading of a particular lot, or carload, of poultry. Requests for this type of service are usually made irregularly, and the charges for the service are based on the time consumed in performing the service. Most of the fee grading work is done at the terminal markets where impartial certification of quality or condition is desired. However, some service is rendered to shippers and processors on a fee basis, as required primarily in fulfilling purchase contract specifications. Resident or continuous grading is performed by graders who are stationed in the applicant's processing plant, and are available at all times to perform grading service at the plant. Most of the resident grading is performed in processing plants at shipping points within the more concentrated areas of production, although some processors and distributors at terminal markets or major distribution centers also use resident, or continuous, grading service. The costs of resident grading service include an amount equal to the salary of the grader , plus an additional charge, based on the volume of product handled in the plant, to cover supervisory and administrative costs. Grading generally involves the sorting of products according to quality and size, but it also includes the detemination of the class and condition of products. For poultry, grading may be for determining class, quality, quantity, or condition, or for any combination of these factors. Grading for quality can be accomplished by examining a representative sample of the lot of poultry to be graded. Only ready-to-cook poultry that is first inspected for wholesomeness, and then is graded on an individual-bird basis, may be individually marked with an official grade mark. Dressed poultry may not have individual grade labels applied. Resident grading service is provided on the basis of written application on forms supplied by the Poultry Division of the Consumer and Marketing Service. The applicant agrees to comply with the regulations governing grading and, in addition, agrees to pay the full cost of the service requested. The government and cooperating agencies, in turn, agree to provide an adequate number of graders to perform the service. The conditions under which the service is performed are specified in the application and the regulations. 'the cost per pound for this service is generally very little more than in plants not using the grading service, but instead employing their own graders.
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