10 MISC. PUBLICATION 604, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
RAPID PROGRESS IN ISSUING STANDARDS SINCE 1921 
Beginning in 1922, the standardization project in the newly created Bureau of 
Agricultural Economics, which took over the duties of the Bureau of Markets and 
Crop Estimates, was able to increase substantially its issuance of standards. In 
that year, grades for asparagus, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, lettuce, peaches, 
and tomatoes were issued and those for cabbage and potatoes were revised. For 
each of the next 10 years, an average of about 6 new standards for fruits and 
vegetables were added and, of course, many of those previously issued were 
revised. As of June 30, 1931, a total of 67 new standards, covering 50 different 
commodities, had been recommended. By this time, U. S. standards had been 
issued for the principal products, so during the ensuing years technical employees 
were able to devote more time than previously to developing standards for some 
of the less important commodities. 
Some new standards have been promulgated every year since 1920 except the 
last one, and U. S. standards for 76 different products have been issued. Since two 
or more standards are necessary for some products, owing to differences in types 
and uses, a total of 142 sets of standards have been issued. These include 4o 
standards for 20 different fruits, 85 standards for 48 different vegetables, and 17 
standards for 8 other products not classed as fruits and vegetables, such as peanuts, 
edible tree nuts, and tomato plants. 
The order in which U. S. standards have been developed has been determined 
largely by the needs of the various industries. No standards have been promul- 
gated unless there was enough evidence to indicate that their issuance would be 
a benefit to the particular industry concerned. In spite of the large number of 
U. S. standards that have been issued, there are still some products for which 
standards have not been issued. Standards intended primarily for use as a basis 
of packing and sale of products in large packages at the wholesale level have been 
issued for all but a few relatively unimportant commodities. Thirty-two stand- 
ards for 25 raw products for processing have been issued, thus leaving a great 
many products for which standards have not yet been developed. 
The decided trend toward prepackaging of fruit and vegetables for retailing to 
consumers brought about a demand for consumer standards during the last 
decade. To date, standards have been developed and issued for 11 vegetables and 
1 fruit. It will be many years before consumer standards are developed for all 
products. 
U. S. STANDARDS PERMISSIVE IN CHARACTER 
Generally speaking, the U. S. standards for fresh fruits and vegetables are 
permissive standards; that is, their use is optional as far as the law under which 
authority is given for their issuance is concerned. Certain other Federal and 
State laws, however, grant authority for making the grading of produce com- 
pulsory under certain circumstances. The Export Apple and Pear Act, enacted 
in 1933, is a mandatory Federal act which provides that it shall be unlawful 
to ship apples or pears in the raw state to foreign countries, except in less 
than carlots, unless they meet certain minimum grades prescribed by rules and 
regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture. 
Under provisions of the Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, authority is 
granted for restriction of shipments of produce by grade, size or maturity. 
Thus, grading of certain products has been made compulsory in production 
areas which have adopted marketing agreements and orders. 
