2 MISC. PUBLICATION 5 9 8, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



What marketing purposes are served by inspection certificates? 



They serve as documentary evidence of quality and condition to 

 accompany warehouse receipts in financing operations; as proof of 

 quality and condition to accompany sales offers, invoices, and shipping 

 documents; to substantiate quality and condition of deliveries; and 

 as a basis for labeling retail containers. 



What legal value do inspection certificates have? 



The inspection certificates issued by the official inspectors of the 

 Department are admissible in all courts of the United States as prima 

 facie evidence of the truth of the statements they contain. 



WHAT IS GOVERNMENT INSPECTION? 



The Congress of the United States authorizes the Secretary of 

 Agriculture, in the annual appropriation act for the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, to investigate and certify to shippers 

 and other interested persons or firms, the class, quality, or condition 

 of certain farm products, including fruits and vegetables. 



Official inspectors perform inspections in accordance with rules and 

 regulations of the Secretary governing this service. They inspect 

 individual samples or representative samples drawn at random from 

 lots of processed products upon the request of a financially interested 

 person or firm. These are official inspections and may include in- 

 spections for quality or grade, condition of product, condition of con- 

 tainers, or other related aspects of food preservation, storage, and 

 marketing, and special technical analyses. 



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Figure 1. — A lot of canned goods, previously inspected and stored in a warehouse, 

 is marked "Property of the U. S. Army"' by an official inspector of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. The goods, thus identified, will he held in safekeeping 

 until shipping orders are received. 



