Reference #174

TO:       	FGIS.POLICY BULLETIN BOARD

FROM:     	David Orr, Director
		Field Management Division

SUBJECT:  	Checktesting No. 9 Chess Dockage Sieves

ORIGINATING OFFICE: 	Board of Appeals and Review


BACKGROUND:

The Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration issued Program 
Bulletin 96.7, "Standardization of Chess (Cheat) Dockage Sieves," dated April 
19, 1996.  The Program Bulletin implemented an annual checktest program for the 
No. 9 Carter Day chess sieve.  Prior to this time, the sieve had not been 
routinely checktested.  It was later determined that the condition and 
performance of this sieve varied, resulting in inconsistent dockage results when 
wheat samples contained chess or cheat.

After implementing this checktest, the Board of Appeals and Review (BAR) tested 
many No. 9 sieves throughout the official system in an effort to remove out-of-
tolerance sieves.  We believe the past problems with the sieve were largely 
eliminated by the initial checktest.  In addition, the BAR received and 
checktested newly-produced No. 9 chess sieves to evaluate their performance. (If 
the sieves were found to be within tolerance with the designated BAR standard 
sieve.  FGIS-931 "Approved" stickers were attached to the approved sieves which 
were returned to Carter Day for future sale.  Any sieves that did not pass this 
initial test were returned to the manufacturer without stickers.)

Because GIPSA has not observed any marketing problems as a result of 
inconsistent analyses of samples containing chess, we have decided to suspend 
the "annual checktest" provision of Program Bulletin 96.7 for locations that 
have rarely used their No. 9 sieves since the initial checktest.

POLICY:

If an official inspection location has not used its approved No. 9 sieve 
(approval sticker attached) more than an average of 25 times each year since May 
1996, it will not be necessary to retest the sieve at this time.  All sieves 
must have been properly maintained and/or stored during this period of time in 
order to be used for official purposes.  If the location's sieve usage exceeds 
an annual average of 25 times, the office should contact the BAR during May 1999 
to order a checktest.

Please distribute this policy memo to official agencies in your circuit.  This 
policy is effective upon receipt.

USDA:FGIS:BAR:RBLEW:REF9SSIV.TXT
EDITED:PHADYKA:ph:4-30-99