§ 77. — Official inspection and weighing requirements; waiver; supervision by representatives of Secretary.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 7USC77]
TITLE 7--AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER 3--GRAIN STANDARDS
Sec. 77. Official inspection and weighing requirements; waiver;
supervision by representatives of Secretary
(a) Official samples and certificates; waiver; excepted grains
Whenever standards or procedures are effective under section 76 of
this title for any grain--
(1) no person shall ship from the United States to any place
outside thereof any lot of such grain, unless such lot is officially
weighed and officially inspected in accordance with such standards
or procedures, and unless a valid official certificate showing the
official grade designation and certified weight of the lot of grain
has been provided by official inspection personnel and is promptly
furnished by the shipper, or the agent of the shipper, to the
consignee with the bill of lading or other shipping documents
covering the shipment: Provided, That the Secretary may waive the
foregoing requirement in emergency or other circumstances which
would not impair the objectives of this chapter: Provided further,
That the Secretary shall waive the requirement for official
inspection whenever the parties to a contract for such shipment of a
lot of grain (which is not sold, offered for sale, or consigned for
sale by grade) from the United States to any place outside thereof
mutually agree under the contract to ship such lot of grain without
official inspection being performed and a copy of the contract is
furnished to the Secretary prior to shipment;
(2) except as the Secretary may provide in emergency or other
circumstances which would not impair the objectives of this chapter,
all other grain transferred out of and all grain transferred into an
export elevator at an export port location shall be officially
weighed in accordance with such standards or procedure: Provided,
That, unless the shipper or receiver requests that the grain be
officially weighed, intracompany shipments of grain into an export
elevator by any mode of transportation, grain transferred into an
export elevator by transportation modes other than barge, and grain
transferred out of an export elevator to destinations within the
United States shall not be officially weighed; and
(3) except as otherwise authorized by the Secretary, whenever a
lot of grain is both officially inspected and officially weighed
while being transferred into or out of a grain elevator, warehouse,
or other storage or handling facility, an official certificate shall
be issued showing both the official grade designation and the
certified weight of the lot of grain.
(b) Supervision by representatives of Secretary
All official inspection and official weighing, whether performed by
authorized employees of the Secretary or any other person licensed under
section 84 of this title, shall be supervised by representatives of the
Secretary, in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary may
provide.
(c) Testing for aflatoxin contamination of corn shipped in foreign
commerce
The Secretary is authorized and directed to require that all corn
exported from the United States be tested to ascertain whether it
exceeds acceptable levels of aflatoxin contamination, unless the
contract for export between the buyer and seller stipulates that
aflatoxin testing shall not be conducted.
(Aug. 11, 1916, ch. 313, pt. B, Sec. 5, 39 Stat. 483; Pub. L. 90-487,
Sec. 1, Aug. 15, 1968, 82 Stat. 763; Pub. L. 94-582, Sec. 6, Oct. 21,
1976, 90 Stat. 2869; Pub. L. 95-113, title XVI, Sec. 1606(b), Sept. 29,
1977, 91 Stat. 1030; Pub. L. 96-437, Sec. 2, Oct. 13, 1980, 94 Stat.
1870; Pub. L. 101-624, title XX, Sec. 2007, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat.
3931; Pub. L. 103-156, Sec. 12(c), Nov. 24, 1993, 107 Stat. 1528; Pub.
L. 103-354, title II, Sec. 293(a)(3), (7), Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat.
3237; Pub. L. 106-472, title I, Sec. 101, Nov. 9, 2000, 114 Stat. 2059.)
Amendments
2000--Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 106-472 struck out ``(on the basis of
official samples taken after final elevation as near the final spout
through which the grain passes as physically practicable as it is being
loaded aboard, or while it is in, the final carrier in which it is to be
transported from the United States)'' after ``officially inspected''.
1994--Pub. L. 103-354 substituted ``employees of the Secretary'' for
``Service employees'' in subsec. (b) and ``Secretary'' for
``Administrator'' wherever appearing.
1993--Pub. L. 103-156, Sec. 12(c), which directed amendment of
``Section 5'', without specifying the name of the Act being amended, was
executed to this section, which is section 5 of the United States Grain
Standards Act, to reflect the probable intent of Congress.
Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 103-156, Sec. 12(c)(1), substituted ``the
agent of the shipper'' for ``his agent''.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103-156, Sec. 12(c)(2), substituted
``regulations as the Administrator'' for ``regulations as he''.
1990--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101-624 added subsec. (c).
1980--Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 96-437 inserted proviso that, unless
the shipper or receiver requests that the grain be officially weighed,
intracompany shipments of grain into an export elevator by any mode of
transportation, grain transferred into an export elevator by
transportation modes other than barge, and grain transferred out of an
export elevator to destinations within the United States shall not be
officially weighed.
1977--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 95-113 substituted ``standards or
procedures'' for ``standards'' wherever appearing.
1976--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 94-582 designated existing provisions as
par. (1) of subsec. (a); struck out ``that is sold, offered for sale, or
consigned for sale by grade'' after ``any lot of such grain''; inserted
official weighing requirement; substituted ``officially inspected (on
the basis of official samples taken after final elevation as near the
final spout through which the grain passes as physically practicable as
it is being loaded aboard, or while it is in, the final carrier in which
it is to be transported from the United States)'' for ``officially
inspected in accordance with such standards on the basis of official
samples taken after final elevation as the grain is being loaded aboard,
or while it is in, the final carrier in which it is to be transported
from the United States''; required the certificate to show the certified
weight of the lot of grain provided by official inspection personnel;
substituted provision for waiver by the Administrator of requirement for
official inspection certificate in emergency or other circumstances
which would not impair the objectives of this chapter for provision for
waiver by the Secretary of any requirement of this section with respect
to shipments from or to any area or any other class of shipments when in
his judgment it is impracticable to provide official inspection with
respect to such shipments; inserted provision for waiver by
Administrator of requirement for official inspection whenever the
parties to a contract for such shipment of a lot of grain (which is not
sold, offered for sale, or consigned for sale by grade) from the United
States to any place outside thereof mutually agree under the contract to
ship such lot of grain without official inspection being performed and a
copy of the contract is furnished to the Administrator prior to
shipment; and added pars. (2) and (3) of subsec. (a).
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 94-582 added subsec. (b).
1968--Pub. L. 90-487 substituted provisions requiring an official
inspection for export grains but authorizing the waiver of such
requirements when official inspection is impracticable for provisions
prohibiting misrepresentation respecting grade shipped or delivered for
shipment, allowing reexamination, requiring hearing in the event of a
false or misleading description, and allowing publication of findings.
Effective Date of 1977 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 95-113 effective Oct. 1, 1977, see section 1901
of Pub. L. 95-113, set out as a note under section 1307 of this title.
Effective Date of 1976 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 94-582 effective 30 days after Oct. 21, 1976,
see section 27 of Pub. L. 94-582, as amended, set out as a note under
section 74 of this title.
Effective Date of 1968 Amendment
For effective date of amendment by Pub. L. 90-487, see section 2 of
Pub. L. 90-487, set out as a note under section 78 of this title.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 79, 79a, 87b of this title.
