For the purpose of the regulations in this subpart, words in the singular form shall be deemed to import the plural and vice versa, as the case may demand. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms shall have the following meaning:

Act means the applicable provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 1087, as amended; 7 U.S.C. 1621-1627) or any other act of Congress conferring like authority.

Administrator means the Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service or any other officer or employee of the Agricultural Marketing Service to whom authority has heretofore been delegated, or to whom authority may hereafter be delegated, to act in his stead.

Agricultural Marketing Service or AMS means the Agricultural Marketing Service of the Department.

Applicant means any interested party who has applied for inspection or grading service.

Approved laboratory means a laboratory in which the facilities and equipment used for official testing have been adequate to perform the necessary official tests in accordance with this part.

Approved plant means one or more adjacent buildings, or parts thereof, comprising a single plant at one location in which the facilities and methods of operation therein have been surveyed and approved by the Administrator as suitable and adequate for inspection or grading service in accordance with this part.

Area Supervisor means any employee of the Branch in charge of dairy inspection or grading service in a designated geographical area.

Branch means the Dairy Inspection Branch of the Poultry and Dairy Quality Division.

Chief means the Chief of the Branch, or any officer or employee of the Branch to whom authority has been heretofore delegated, or to whom authority may hereafter be delegated, to act in his stead.

Class means any subdivision of a product based on essential physical characteristics that differentiate between major groups of the same kind or method of processing.

Condition of container means the degree of acceptability of the container with respect to freedom from defects which affect its serviceability, including appearance as well as usability, of the container for its intended purpose.

Condition of product or condition is an expression of the extent to which a product is free from defects which affect its usability, including but not limited to, the state of preservation, cleanliness, soundness, wholesomeness, or fitness for human food.

Continuous resident service or resident service is inspection or grading service performed at a dairy manufacturing plant or grading station by an inspector or grader assigned to the plant or station on a continuous, year-round, resident basis.

Department or USDA means the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Director means the Director of the Poultry and Dairy Quality Division, or any other officer or employee of the Division to whom authority has heretofore been delegated or to whom authority may hereafter be delegated, to act in his stead.

Division means the Poultry and Dairy Quality Division of the Agricultural Marketing Service.

Inspection or grading service or service means in accordance with this part, the act of (a) drawing samples of any product; (b) determining the class, grade, quality, composition, size, quantity, or condition of any product by examining each unit or representative samples; (c) determining condition of product containers; (d) identifying any product or packaging material by means of official identification; (e) regrading or appeal grading of a previously graded product; (f) inspecting dairy plant facilities, equipment, and operations; such as, processing, manufacturing, packaging, repackaging, and quality control; (g) supervision of packaging inspected or graded product; (h) reinspection or appeal inspection; and (i) issuing an inspection or grading certificate or sampling, inspection, or other report related to any of the foregoing.

Inspector or grader means any Federal or State employee to whom a license has been issued by the Administrator to perform one or more types of inspection or grading services.

Inspection or grading office means the office of any inspector or grader.

Interested party means any person financially interested in a transaction involving any inspection or grading service.

Licensed plant employee means an employee of an approved plant to whom a license is issued by the Administrator to supervise packaging of officially inspected or graded product, perform laboratory tests, or perform other duties as assigned by the Administrator. A licensed plant employee is not authorized to issue any inspection or grading certificate.

Product means butter, cheese (whether natural or processed), milk, cream, milk products (whether dried, frozen, evaporated, stabilized, or condensed), ice cream, dry whey, dry buttermilk, and any other food product, which is prepared or manufactured in whole or in part from any of the aforesaid products, as the Administrator may hereafter designate.

Person means any individual, partnership, association, business, trust, corporation, or any organized group of persons, whether incorporated or not.

Plant survey means an appraisal of the plant to determine extent to which facilities, equipment, method of operation, and raw material being received are in accordance with the provisions of this part. The survey shall be used to determine suitability of the plant for inspection or grading service.

Quality means the inherent properties of any product which determine its relative degree of excellence.

Regulations means the provisions of this subpart.

Sampling report means a statement issued by an inspector or grader identifying samples taken by him for inspection or grading service.

Supervisor of packaging means an employee of the Department or other person licensed by the Administrator to supervise the packaging and official identification of product or any repackaging of bulk product.