Washington Administrative Code

(1) In addition to the standards contained in this chapter, the Washington state department of agriculture adopts the United States Department of Agriculture United States Standards for Grades of Winter Pears, 7 C.F.R. § 51.1300 et seq., effective September 10, 1955.(2) The depar…

Washington extra fancy or U.S. extra No. 1 are pears that are mature, but not overripe, carefully picked, clean, well formed, free from decay, internal breakdown, scald, freezing injury, worm holes, black end, hard end, and drought spot; and free from injury caused by russeting, …

U.S. No. 1 are pears that are mature but not overripe, carefully picked, clean, fairly well formed, free from decay, internal breakdown, scald, freezing injury, worm holes, black end; and free from damage caused by hard end, bruises, broken skins, russeting, limb rubs, hail, scar…

Washington fancy or U.S. No. 2 are pears that are mature but not overripe, carefully picked, clean, not seriously misshapen, free from decay, internal breakdown, scald, freezing injury, worm holes, black end; and free from damage caused by hard end, or broken skins. The pears mus…

A combination of U.S. No. 1 and U.S. No. 2 may be packed. When such a combination is packed, at least fifty percent of the pears in any container must meet the requirements of U.S. No. 1.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 15.17 RCW, RCW 15.17.030, and chapter 34.05 RCW. WSR 09-01-094,…

A combination of extra fancy and fancy may be packed together as "Washington commercial grade" when at least fifty percent of the pears in any container meet the requirements of Washington extra fancy and the remainder meet the requirements of Washington fancy. Broken skins or sk…

Washington third grade shall consist of pears that are mature, carefully picked, clean, sound, not very seriously misshapen, free from black end, free from damage caused by hard end, broken skins, and from serious damage caused by cork spot or bruises.[Statutory Authority: Chapte…

Pears, which are not graded in conformity with the foregoing grades, must be designated as culls.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 15.17 RCW, RCW 15.17.030, and chapter 34.05 RCW. WSR 09-01-094, § 16-442-080, filed 12/16/08, effective 1/16/09; Order 322, effective 7/29/40.]

The following specific defects, or any combination of them when the combined seriousness exceeds the maximum allowed for any one defect, are considered injury to winter pears.(1) Russeting: On any winter pear varieties, any amount of characteristic russeting is permitted, whether…

The following specific defects or any combination of them, when the combined seriousness exceeds the maximum allowed for any one defect, are considered damage to winter pears:(1) Russeting:(a) Excessively rough russeting that shows "frogging" or slight cracking on all pear variet…

The following defects, or any combination of them when the combined seriousness exceeds the maximum allowed for any one defect, are considered serious damage to winter pears:(1) Russeting:(a) Excessively rough russeting that shows "frogging" or slight cracking and exceeds three-f…

(1)(a) For all grades, no more than ten percent of the pears in any container may be below the grade requirements of this chapter, including no more than five percent may be seriously damaged by insects, and not more than one percent may be allowed for decay or internal breakdown…

Decay, scald or other deterioration, which may have developed on pears after they have been in storage or transit, shall be considered as affecting condition and not the grade.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 15.17 RCW, RCW 15.17.030, and chapter 34.05 RCW. WSR 09-01-094, § 16-442-1…

(1) Except when jumbled, all packed pears must be arranged in clean cartons according to industry approved and recognized methods.(2) When packed, pears in any container must be tightly packed and all packages must be well filled. The pears must not show excessive or unnecessary …

(1) When pears are shipped, the container must bear the:(a) Correct name of the variety or marked "variety unknown," or, when more than one variety and/or commodity is in the container, the name of each variety and/or commodity;(b) The name and address of the grower, packer, or s…

(1) Any person, firm, or organization wishing to pack pears under a grade or brand not covered by this chapter, must file with the director a certified copy of the description of the private grade or brand before the first day of August of the year in which the pears are grown.(2…

The following definitions are important to this chapter and apply only to Italian prunes:"Badly misshapen" means prunes so malformed or rough that they appear to be seriously damaged. Doubles that have approximately equal sized halves are not considered "badly misshapen.""Culls" …

(1) "Damage" means any injury or defect that materially affects the prune's appearance, or its edible or shipping quality. Internal growth cracks, cavities or gum spots are not considered damage. Any one of the following defects or any combination of defects, the seriousness of w…

Washington No. 1 grade shall consist of prunes that are:(1) Of one variety;(2) A purplish color over at least 2/3 of their surface;(3) Well-formed;(4) At least 1-1/4 inches in diameter unless otherwise specified;(5) Mature but not overripe, soft or shriveled;(6) Free from decay a…

The following tolerances apply to prunes in any container and are adopted to allow for variations that are incidental to proper grading and handling.(1) Tolerances that apply at the shipping point: No more than ten percent of prunes, by count, may fail to meet the grade requireme…

Provided, that the average for an entire lot of prunes are within the specified tolerances, the contents of individual containers in the lot, based on sample inspection, are subject to the following limitations. Individual containers:(1) May contain at least one defective and one…

(1) A standard pack of Italian prunes must:(a) Contain prunes of fairly uniform size;(b) Be tightly packed; and(c) Contain prunes in the top layer that are not noticeably superior in quality or size to those below the top layer.(2) In order to allow for variations incident to pro…

"CA number" means the controlled atmosphere license number assigned to a facility by the director."Certification" means the complete service performed by the director, from inspection through the issuance of any applicable documentation of the results of the inspection."Controlle…

Fruits and vegetables may be designated controlled atmosphere when they have been stored in a licensed CA storage and have met all the provisions of this chapter. In conjunction with certification by the director that all requirements have been met, all containers or subcontainer…

(1) The designation "CA" or words "controlled atmosphere" can only be used on containers or subcontainers of fruits or vegetables that comply with the requirements of this chapter.(2) All containers or subcontainers intended for controlled atmosphere storage must be marked with e…

(1) Controlled atmosphere (CA) fruits or vegetables must enter commercial trade channels within two weeks following CA certification.(2) If CA fruits and vegetables are not shipped within two weeks after initial certification, they must obtain a new CA certification to qualify fo…

(1) Any person operating a controlled atmosphere storage must obtain a license from the department.(2) To apply for an annual controlled atmosphere operator license, AGR form 6074 must be completed and submitted to the department.(3) The application must be accompanied by a fee o…

(1) Every licensed operator must submit to WSDA a signed, completed form containing the following information:(a) Location of the storage facility;(b) Storage room number;(c) Date the room was closed and sealed; and(d) Quantity of loose or packed fruit or vegetables in the room i…

(1) The oxygen content of each storage room must be reduced to five percent within twenty calendar days after the room is sealed.(2) Stored fruits or vegetables must be kept in controlled atmosphere storage under required degrees of temperature and percentage of air components fo…

Bartlett pears must comply with the requirements in chapter 15.30 RCW, this chapter and the following additional condition and maturity requirements:(1) Be no further advanced in maturity than "mostly hard—some firm."(2) Not exceed an average of two percent decay or breakdown.[St…

All winter pear varieties must comply with the requirements in chapter 15.30 RCW, this chapter and the following additional condition and maturity requirements:(1) No more than two percent decay;(2) No more than two percent scald; and(3) A five percent maximum aggregate for all c…

Apples must meet U.S. condition standards for export as stated in the United States standards of grades for apples, 7 C.F.R. Sections 51.300 – 321 (January 1, 2014).[Statutory Authority: RCW 15.30.050 and chapter 34.05 RCW. WSR 15-10-091, § 16-450-060, filed 5/6/15, effective 6/6…

"Certificate of compliance" means a shipping document issued by the fruit and vegetable industry attesting that the identified fruits or vegetables are known to be in full compliance with provisions of chapter 15.17 RCW. The member of the fruit and vegetable industry issuing the …

No person may ship, transport, accept for shipment, or accept delivery of any commercial lot of apples, apricots, asparagus, Italian prunes, peaches, pears, or sweet cherries for which a certificate of compliance or a shipping permit has not been issued, except that apples and pe…

Fruit and vegetables listed in WAC 16-461-010 are exempt from the requirements of this chapter when:(1) The product is being transported from the premises where grown or produced to a facility other than wholesale or retail for the purpose of storing, grading, packing, packaging,…

Cherries in any type of containers for fresh market may not be shipped if infested with live Western cherry fruit fly (Rhagoletis indifferens) larvae as prohibited under WAC 16-463-010. The exemptions in WAC 16-461-020 do not apply to this section.[Statutory Authority: RCW 15.17.…

Prior to shipment, fruits and vegetables must meet the applicable federal marketing order requirements or Washington state requirements specific to each commodity. Containers must be marked at time of certification with a Washington state lot identification, a federal-state lot i…

(1) A shipper or packer of apples, apricots, asparagus, Italian prunes, peaches, pears, or sweet cherries may petition the director for authority to issue certificates of compliance for each season. Under RCW 15.17.143, the director may issue certificate of compliance agreements …

(1) A person who violates the provisions of chapter 15.17 RCW, or the rules adopted under chapter 15.17 RCW including chapter 16-390 WAC and this chapter, may be subject to a civil penalty in an amount of not more than one thousand dollars for each violation. Each violation is a …

(1) Participation in the grape planting stock program is voluntary.(2) Grapevines or parts of grape plants may be designated as registered stock (G2/G3), or certified grape planting stock (G4), if they and the stock from which they were produced have been inspected and tested in …

The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise:"Block" means a contiguous grouping of Vitis plants separated from other groupings by a buffer zone. A block may contain one or multiple lots."Buffer zone" is an area surro…

All propagative material eligible for entry into the WSDA grape planting stock registration and certification program must be derived from a Generation 1 foundation block held at a National Clean Plant Network (NCPN) supported center and continuously grown under conditions that m…

(1) The applicant shall be responsible, subject to the approval of the department, for the selection of the location and the proper maintenance of registered blocks (G2/G3) and certified grape planting stock (G4).(2) The applicant must maintain records identifying the (G1) founda…

(1) All registered grapevines must be identified by the number assigned to the single grapevine (G1) source in the foundation block from which they were derived.(2) With the exception of practices allowed in subsections (3), (4), and (5) of this section, registered (G2) vines mus…

(1) Certified grape planting stock, including all components of budded or grafted plants, must be propagated from cuttings taken from G1, G2, or G3 grapevines.(2) Cuttings from registered blocks must be sorted and kept separate by variety and selection number or clone.(3) Treatme…

(1) Inspections of registered grapevines and certified grape planting stock will be performed by the department at times determined to be suitable for the detection of virus and virus-like disease symptoms.(2) The department will conduct at least two inspections of registered (G2…

(1) In addition to required visual inspections, all registered (G2/G3) grapevines may be tested by the department for regionally occurring viruses regulated under this chapter, on a five-year rotation. Regionally occurring viruses are those that can be vectored within the registe…

(1) The applicant shall submit an application form developed by the department, furnishing all information requested, giving consent to the department to inspect and take samples from any planting stock enrolled in the program as registered grapevines or certified grape planting …

(1) Certification language approved by the department must be affixed by the grower to each bundle, box or other unit of certified grape planting stock (G4) by means of tag, stamp, sticker, or preprinted language prior to shipping. If all vines in a single shipment are considered…

All grapevines produced under this program must be free of Grapevine fanleaf virus, Grapevine leafroll-associated viruses, Grapevine virus A, Grapevine virus B, Arabis mosaic virus, Tomato ringspot virus, Grapevine red blotch virus, Grapevine vein clearing virus, Xylella fastidio…