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The Division of Marketing and Development conducts voluntary inspection and grading activities related to fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood, poultry and poultry products.  These user paid fee programs are administered under Cooperative Agreements with the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Commerce to enhance the marketability of these commodities for producers and the food industry and also assure consumers who purchase these inspected commodities that they meet established standards.

Services Offered
NJDA’s expert inspectors perform both shipping point and terminal market inspections and issue official certificates that are admissible in all U.S. courts as prima facie evidence.  Each certificate includes information such as size, quality, condition and official grading of each lot.  These inspections are conducted at various locations, including growers’ fields, packaging houses, warehouses, processing plants, cold storages or wherever the need arises.  As the name implies, shipping point inspections are usually conducted at origin as the produce is being packed for shipment to market, although they are occasionally accomplished at other points along the distribution system, e.g. cold storage, broker's warehouses, etc.
 
Benefits
The inspection program offers many benefits for both the seller and buyer.  The official inspection/grading certificates offer factual evidence concerning the quality and condition of products inspected, and provide the basis for establishing the value of produce as well for making/obtaining loans and settling claims.  Grading certificates are also used to establish incentive payments for higher quality product and fair deductions or rejections for lower, unacceptable quality.

Other Inspection and Grading programs offered by the Division are:

 

Contact:
Anne Marie Ference
New Jersey Department of Agriculture,
Division of Marketing and Development
Anne.marie.ference@ag.state.nj.us
(609) 777-0098
FAX (609) 984-2508