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forms below are in PDF format.
Commodity
Regulations
Commodity
Registration and License Applications
Commodity
Regulation Reports
Label
or Registration Violations
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Through
a cooperative agreement with the USDA, the Bureau of Commodity Inspection
and Grading offers a voluntary grading program for fresh fruits
and vegetables, shell eggs, egg products, poultry, seafood and red
meat. This effort is critical to the interstate and international
shipment of these products and helps to insure a constant supply
of high quality, properly labeled fruits, vegetables, eggs, red
meat, poultry, fish and seafood products for consumers. The program
is supported by user fees. In FY01, the service will continue and,
if necessary and feasible, expand in order to provide New Jersey
growers and shippers with access to all possible domestic and international
marketing channels for their products.
The
division also administers the Jersey Fresh Quality Grading Program
which is a voluntary program that helps Garden State farmers increase
the sales of more than 80 New Jersey fruits, vegetables, salad mixes,
shell eggs, milk and cut flowers, not just within New Jersey but
across state and international boundaries as well. The program helps
New Jersey growers stand out in an increasingly competitive regional
and national marketplace.
After
registering with the Quality Grading Program, growers are licensed
to use the Jersey Fresh logo on their packages. The logo indicates
that the contents have been inspected and meet quality standards
equal to or better than U.S. No. 1. This inspection standard adds
a quality assurance note to the overall Jersey Fresh marketing program
that is welcomed by wholesale produce buyers and consumers who want
high quality products that are uniformly sized and consistently
packed.
With
food safety and quality uppermost in consumers' minds, the commodity
inspection and grading service offered by the department is particularly
important. Inspections and certifications at packing houses and
processing facilities help guarantee that the products being shipped
or processed meet all grade standards so that the commodities can
be shipped domestically and internationally.
Most
inspection services provided by the department are paid for by those
for whom the inspections are done. Inspected products include shell
eggs and liquid, dried and frozen egg products; turkey and chicken;
fresh produce, including most fruits and vegetables grown commercially
in New Jersey as well as fresh fruits and vegetables received from
other growing areas at terminal markets.
The
fish and fisheries products inspection program, begun in 1986 and
operated in cooperation with the United States Department of Commerce,
enables the department to provide a broad range of inspection and
grading services to New Jersey's commercial fishing industry, including
plant sanitation surveys, product quality grading and export certification.
Under its commodity licensing and bonding program, the Division
of Dairy Industry and Commodity Regulation offers economic protection
for New Jersey farmers who sell perishable agricultural commodities
or hay, grain and straw to dealers and brokers on credit basis.
The
division also provides field inspection, sampling and laboratory
analysis of animal feed, fertilizers and liming material sold in
New Jersey. These analyses, coupled with enforcement actions against
producers of mislabeled or substandard products, enable the division
to protect crop yields and promote animal growth. Label or registration
violations (2000, 1999)
found during field inspections and analyses result in those items
being removed from sale and, in some cases, fines levied against
manufacturers and refunds to buyers.
In
addition, the division collects and submits samples of biosolids
to test for contaminants such as heavy metals to ensure that the
United States Department of Environmental Protection Agency's tolerance
levels established for such materials are not exceeded.
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