§ 911.311 - Florida lime pack and container marking regulation.

(a) No handler shall handle any limes grown in the production area, of the group known as seedless, large fruited, or Persian limes (including Tahiti, Bearss and similar varieties), in any container specified in § 911.329, unless such limes meet the requirements of standard pack and each container in each lot is marked or stamped on one outside end in letters at least 1/4 inch in height to show the United States grade applicable to such lot and either the average juice content of the limes in such lot or the phrase average juice content forty-two percent (42%) or more: Provided, That, in lieu of such marking requirement, any handler may affix to the container a label, brand, or trademark, registered with the Florida Lime Administrative Committee in accordance with the following, which appropriately identifies the grade:

(1) Registration of each label, brand, or trademark with the Florida Lime Administrative Committee shall be on forms prescribed by it and shall be filed with such committee not less than 30 days prior to use in lieu of the foregoing marking requirement.

(2) A label, brand, or trademark registered with the committee, during a fiscal year, to identify a specific grade may not be reregistered during the same fiscal year to identify any other grade until 30 days after notice of such reregistration has been filed with the committee.

(3) Each label, brand, or trademark registered with the committee shall include the name and address of the handler and shall be sufficiently distinctive otherwise that it can be readily identified and distinguished from other registered labels, brands, or trademarks.

(4) If a label, brand, or trademark is registered by a handler to identify a specific grade, in order for a label, brand, or trademark of practically the same design and lettering with a different color, or additional terms or name, to be registered to represent a different grade, the name of the color and the additional terms or name shall appear on the label, brand, or trademark in block letters of at least one-half (1/2) inch in height, of contrasting color.

(5) A label, brand, or trademark registered with the committee to identify a specific grade shall not be used on any container packed with limes of a lower grade than that for which the label, brand, or trademark is registered.

(b) No handler shall handle any limes grown in the production area in any container specified in § 911.329 unless such container is marked with a Federal-State Inspection Service lot stamp number showing that the limes have been inspected in accordance with regulations issued under § 911.48 of the marketing order: Provided, That when inspection occurs after palletization, only all exposed or outside containers of limes must be plainly marked with the lot stamp number corresponding to the lot inspection conducted by an authorized inspector.

(c) The provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to individual packages of limes not exceeding four pounds, net weight, that are within master containers, except that if such packages are individual bags, either such bags or the master containers thereof shall be marked or labeled in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, and master containers shall be marked or labeled in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (b) and the requirements of § 911.329(a)(2)(v).

(d) No handler shall handle any container of seedless limes, grown in the production area, unless such container is marked once on the top or on any one side of the container, not to include the bottom, with letters at least one inch in height with one of the size designations shown in column 1 of the following table: Provided, That the number of seedless limes in a ten pound sample of a particular size designation, representative of the limes in the container, corresponds to the permissible size range in column 2 of such table for such size designation: Provided further, That not more than 10 percent of the containers in any lot may fail to meet these requirements.

Table 1Column 1 size designationsColumn 2 size range7268 to 766359 to 675451 to 584845 to 514239 to 443633 to 382825 to 32Jumbo24 and larger

(e) Terms used in this section shall mean the same as in the marketing order, and terms relating to grade and standard pack shall mean the same as in the U.S. Standards for Grades of Persian (Tahiti) Limes (7 CFR 51.1000 through 51.1016).