[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 50, Volume 7]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 50CFR260.6]

[Page 655-657]
 
                    TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
 
  CHAPTER II--NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND 
           ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
 
PART 260_INSPECTION AND CERTIFICATION--Table of Contents
 
  Subpart A_Inspection and Certification of Establishments and Fishery 
                     Products for Human Consumption
 
Sec. 260.6  Terms defined.

    Words in the regulations in this part in the singular form shall be 
deemed to import the plural and vice versa, as the case may demand. For 
the purposes of the regulations in this part, unless the context 
otherwise requires, the following terms shall have the following 
meanings:
    Acceptance number. ``Acceptance number'' means the number in a 
sampling plan that indicates the maximum number of deviants permitted in 
a sample of a lot that meets a specific requirement.
    Act. ``Act'' means the applicable provisions of the Agricultural 
Marketing Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 1087 et seq., as amended; 7 U.S.C. 1621 
et seq.).
    Applicant. ``Applicant'' means any interested party who requests 
inspection service under the regulations in this part.
    Case. ``Case'' means the number of containers (cased or uncased) 
which, by the particular industry are ordinarily packed in a shipping 
container.
    Certificate of loading. ``Certificate of loading'' means a 
statement, either written or printed, issued pursuant to the regulations 
in this part, relative to check-loading of a processed product 
subsequent to inspection thereof.
    Certificate of sampling. ``Certificate of sampling'' means a 
statement, either written or printed issued pursuant to the regulations 
in this part, identifying officially drawn samples and may include a 
description of condition of containers and the condition under which the 
processed product is stored.
    Class. ``Class'' means a grade or rank of quality.
    Condition. ``Condition'' means the degree of soundness of the 
product which may affect its merchantability and includes, but is not 
limited to those factors which are subject to change as a result of age, 
improper preparation and processing, improper packaging, improper 
storage, or improper handling.
    Department. ``Department'' means the U.S. Department of Commerce.
    Deviant. ``Deviant'' means a sample unit affected by one or more 
deviations or a sample unit that varies in a specifically defined manner 
from the requirements of a standard, specification, or other inspection 
document.
    Deviation. ``Deviation'' means any specifically defined variation 
from a particular requirement.
    Director. ``Director'' means the Director of the National Marine 
Fisheries Service.

[[Page 656]]

    Establishment. ``Establishment'' means any premises, buildings, 
structures, facilities, and equipment (including vehicles) used in the 
processing, handling, transporting, and storage of fish and fishery 
products.
    Inspection certificate. ``Inspection certificate'' means a 
statement, either written or printed, issued pursuant to the regulations 
in this part, setting forth in addition to appropriate descriptive 
information relative to a processed product, and the container thereof, 
the quality and condition, or any part thereof, of the product and may 
include a description of the conditions under which the product is 
stored.
    Inspection service. ``Inspection service'' means:
    (1) The sampling pursuant to the regulations in this part;
    (2) The determination pursuant to the regulations in this part of:
    (i) Essential characteristics such as style, type, size, or identity 
of any processed product which differentiates between major groups of 
the same kind;
    (ii) The class, quality, and condition of any processed product, 
including the condition of the container thereof by the examination of 
appropriate samples;
    (3) The issuance of any certificate of sampling, inspection 
certificates, or certificates of loading of a processed product, or any 
report relative to any of the foregoing; or
    (4) Performance by an inspector of any related services such as to 
observe the preparation of the product from its raw state through each 
step in the entire process; or observe conditions under which the 
product is being harvested, prepared, handled, stored, processed, 
packed, preserved, transported, or held; or observe sanitation as a 
prerequisite to the inspection of the processed product, either on a 
contract basis or periodic basis; or checkload the inspected processed 
product in connection with the marketing of the product, or any other 
type of service of a consultative or advisory nature related herewith.
    Inspector. ``Inspector'' means any employee of the Department 
authorized by the Secretary or any other person licensed by the 
Secretary to investigate, sample, inspect, and certify in accordance 
with the regulations in this part to any interested party the class, 
quality and condition of processed products covered in this part and to 
perform related duties in connection with the inspection service.
    Interested party. ``Interested party'' means any person who has a 
financial interest in the commodity involved.
    Licensed sampler. ``Licensed sampler'' means any person who is 
authorized by the Secretary to draw samples of processed products for 
inspection service, to inspect for identification and condition of 
containers in a lot, and may, when authorized by the Secretary, perform 
related services under the act and the regulations in this part.
    Lot. ``Lot'' has the following meanings:
    (1) For the purpose of charging fees and issuing certificates, 
``Lot'' means any number of containers of the same size and type which 
contain a processed product of the same type and style located in the 
same or adjacent warehouses and which are available for inspection at 
any one time: Provided, That:
    (i) Processed products in separate piles which differ from each 
other as to grade or other factors may be deemed to be separate lots;
    (ii) Containers in a pile bearing an identification mark different 
from other containers of such processed product in that pile, if 
determined to be of lower grade or deficient in other factors, may be 
deemed to be a separate lot; and
    (iii) If the applicant requests more than one inspection certificate 
covering different portions of such processed product, the quantity of 
the product covered by each certificate shall be deemed to be a separate 
lot.
    (2) For the purpose of sampling and determining the grade or 
compliance with a specification, ``Lot'' means each pile of containers 
of the same size and type containing a processed product of the same 
type and style which is separated from other piles in the same 
warehouse, but containers in the same pile bearing an identification 
mark different from other containers in that

[[Page 657]]

pile may be deemed to be a separate lot.
    Official establishment. ``Official establishment'' means any 
establishment which has been approved by National Marine Fisheries 
Service, and utilizes inspection service on a contract basis.
    Officially drawn sample. ``Officiallydrawn sample'' means any sample 
that has been selected from a particular lot by an inspector, licensed 
sampler, or by any other person authorized by the Secretary pursuant to 
the regulations in this part.
    Person. ``Person'' means any individual, partnership, association, 
business trust, corporation, any organized group of persons (whether 
incorporated or not), the United States (including, but not limited to, 
any corporate agencies thereof), any State, county, or municipal 
government, any common carrier, and any authorized agent of any of the 
foregoing.
    Plant. ``Plant'' means the premises, buildings, structures, and 
equipment (including, but not being limited to, machines, utensils, and 
fixtures) employed or used with respect to the manufacture or production 
of processed products.
    Processed product. ``Processed product'' means any fishery product 
or other food product covered under the regulations in this part which 
has been preserved by any recognized commercial process, including, but 
not limited to, canning, freezing, dehydrating, drying, the addition of 
chemical substances, or by fermentation.
    Quality. ``Quality'' means the inherent properties of any processed 
product which determine the relative degree of excellence of such 
product, and includes the effects of preparation and processing, and may 
or may not include the effects of packing media, or added ingredients.
    Rejection number. ``Rejection number'' means the number in a 
sampling plan that indicates the minimum number of deviants in a sample 
that will cause a lot to fail a specific requirement.
    Sample. ``Sample'' means any number of sample units to be used for 
inspection.
    Sample unit. ``Sample unit'' means a container and/or its entire 
contents, a portion of the contents of a container or other unit of 
commodity, or a composite mixture of a product to be used for 
inspection.
    Sampling. ``Sampling'' means the act of selecting samples of 
processed products for the purpose of inspection under the regulations 
in this part.
    Secretary. ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Department or 
any other officer or employee of the Department authorized to exercise 
the powers and to perform the duties of the Secretary in respect to the 
matters covered by the regulations in this part.
    Shipping container. ``Shipping container'' means an individual 
container designed for shipping a number of packages or cans ordinarily 
packed in a container for shipping or designed for packing unpackaged 
processed products for shipping.
    Unofficially drawn sample. ``Unofficially drawn sample'' means any 
sample that has been selected by any person other than an inspector or 
licensed sampler, or by any other person not authorized by the Director 
pursuant to the regulations in this part.
    Wholesome. ``Wholesome'' means the minimum basis of acceptability 
for human food purposes, of any fish or fishery product as defined in 
section 402 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended.

[31 FR 16052, Dec. 15, 1966, as amended at 36 FR 21037, Nov. 3, 1971]