GIPSA seeks comments on corn standards
The UDSA Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) is seeking public comment on the need for revisions to the U.S. standards for corn.
GIPSA is soliciting comments as part of the Agency’s comprehensive review of the standards, which were last amended in 1996. Through this review, GIPSA is seeking to ensure that the standards remain relevant to the U.S. and global corn industry and continue to facilitate the marketing of U.S. corn. All aspects of the corn standards are being reviewed, including definitions, grade and non-grade determining factors, grade limits, damages, as well as grading procedures and new services GIPSA might offer.
“Since the standards were last revised, the use of corn for ethanol and the number of different varieties of corn has increased tremendously,” said GIPSA administrator J. Dudley Butler. “To ensure that standards and official grading practices remain relevant, GIPSA invites interested parties to comment on whether the current corn standards and grading procedures need to be changed.”
GIPSA establishes standards for corn, and other grains, under authority of the U.S. Grain Standards Act. The standards facilitate corn marketing and define U.S. corn quality in the domestic and global marketplace by defining commonly used industry terms and outlining basic procedures for testing corn. Together, the grading standards and procedures allow buyers and sellers to communicate quality requirements, compare corn quality using equivalent forms of measurement, and assist in price discovery.
The advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public comment on the corn standards was published in the September 17, 2010, Federal Register. Comments must be received on or before December 16, 2010.
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