§ 96.6 - Conditions in licensing.

(a) It shall be a condition of the licensing of any person and of the retention by him or her of a license, that during the active cotton season each year, the licensee shall be engaged in or in connection with the grading of cottonseed; that each cottonseed sample offered for grading shall be analyzed and grade certified by the licensee, in accordance with the official cottonseed standards of the United States; and that the USDA license of the cottonseed chemist shall not be used or be allowed to be used for any improper purpose.

(b) A USDA licensed cottonseed chemist shall be required to participate in each quality assurance program and each collaborative study for the analytical testing of cottonseed as follows:

(1) The licensed chemist must participate in the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) cottonseed series which requires the testing of 10 known cottonseed samples per year for foreign matter, moisture, free fatty acids, oil, and ammonia.

(2) The licensed chemist must analyze and issue a grade for 10 blind cottonseed check samples per year from the Science and Technology Division. These blind check samples will be submitted as “official” samples.

(3) The chemist shall participate in all collaborative cottonseed analytical method validation studies, initiated by the Division Director.

(c) Each licensed chemist shall keep his or her license conspicuously posted at the place where he or she functions as a chemist, or in such other place as may be approved by the Division Director.

(d) Each licensed chemist must pay in a timely manner an annual licensing renewal fee and other charges and fees assessed by the Division, as listed in §§ 96.20 and 96.21. In the event the chemist fails to pay the annual license renewal fee by the 31st day of August, the chemist will be sent a written notice of a 7-day review by the Director for the suspension of his or her license.