Section 3 in The General Grading and Marking Rules, 1988
3. Grant of Certificate of Authorisation.
(1)Any person or body of persons desirous of being authorised to grade and mark an article under the provisions of the Act shall apply to the Agricultural Marketing Adviser or any other officer of the Central or State Government authorised by the Agricultural Marketing Adviser.(2)An application for authorisation shall be accompanied by:-(a)Proprietorship declaration or partnership deed or Memorandum and Articles of Association or Bye-laws of the Society, as the case may be;(b)Blue print of the premises proposed to be used to grade and mark the commodity;(c)Ownership declaration on non-judicial stamp paper about the premises or the consent of the owner of the premises;(d)Consent of approved laboratory, grinding mill etc., wherever applicable;(e)Specimen copies of trade brand label, if any, alongwith declaration about ownership of the trade brand label and an undertaking to use the same, on permission, for Agmark graded product only;(f)Prescribed fee, if any, for grant of Certificate of Authorisation; and(g)Any other particulars as may be specified from time to time.(3)An application for authorisation shall be signed by the proprietor, partner or the Managing Director of the firm or by any other person authorised to sign any declaration on behalf of the firm. The name and designation of the person signing the application shall be clearly recorded in the application.(4)The application for authorisation shall be submitted through-(a)the concerned State authority and/or office of the Directorate in respect of grading for domestic market ; and(b)the nearest office of the Directorate in respect of grading for export.(5)On receipt of the application for authorisation, the concerned authority shall make necessary arrangements for verification of the bonafides of the applicant and inspection of the premises, laboratory, processing units etc., and on being satisfied that the applicant is a fit and proper person to receive the Certificate of Authorisation, shall forward the application with recommendation for issue of Certificate of Authorisation to the competent Authority.(6)A Certificate of Authorisation shall be issued to the applicant by the Agricultural Marketing Adviser or any officer of the Central or State Government authorised by the Agricultural Marketing Adviser.(7)Each Certificate of Authorisation shall state-(a)the name, style and address of the authorised packer;(b)the article to which alone the grade designation marks may, under the Certificate, be applied;(c)the premises at which alone the grade designation marks may be applied;(d)the period for which the Certificate is valid; and(e)the name of approved laboratory, processing unit, trade brand label, etc., wherever applicable.(8)It shall be the condition of every certificate of authorisation-(a)that grade designation marks shall be applied only to the article(s) mentioned in the Certificate of Authorisation, during the validity period and at the premises therein mentioned:(b)that during the operation of the certificate, the authorised packer shall, at all reasonable times, give access to the premises named therein to any person duly authorised by the Agricultural Marketing Adviser and shall provide him facilities for ascertaining the marking is correctly performed;(c)that the authorised packer shall keep a record of the number of packages marked with each grade designation mark and will permit any person duly authorised by the Agricultural Marketing Adviser to examine the record;(d)that the authorised packer shall permit any person duly authorised by the Agricultural marketing Adviser to open and inspect any package bearing a grade designation mark or to take samples of any graded produce, provided that all samples shall be paid for;(e)that any person duly authorised by the Agricultural Marketing Adviser may cancel or remove a grade designation mark from any produce, should such produce be found to be not conforming to the definition of quality prescribed for the grade designation assigned;(f)that all the rules made under the Act and all instructions relating to grading and marking of an article under provisions of the Act which may be issued by the Agricultural Marketing Adviser or the officer authorised by him/her from time to time shall be observed;(g)that the authorised packer shall be responsible to prohibit the sale and arrange for withdrawing from market, after the date of expiry, wherever prescribed all the packages graded and marked by him;(h)that the authorised packer shall be responsible if any person representing the firm indulges in any malpractices or obstructs the authorised officer in discharge of his official duties; and(i)that the authorised packer shall hand over the Certificate of Authorisation to Agricultural Marketing Adviser or any officer authorised by him/her on demand in writing at any time and obtain a proper receipt therefor.
