(1) These rules may be called the Dates Grading and Marking Rules, 2020.

(2) They shall apply to Pitted Dates and Unpitted Dates obtained from Phoenix dactylifera Linn.

(3) They shall come into force from the date of their final publication in the Official Gazette.

(1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,

(a) Agricultural Marketing Adviser means the Agricultural Marketing Adviser to the Government of India;

(b) authorised packer means a person or a body of persons who has been granted a certificate of authorisation to grade and mark Dates in accordance with the grade standards and procedure prescribed under these rules;

(c) Certificate of Authorisation means a certificate issued under the provisions of the General Grading and Marking Rules, 1988 authorising a person or a body of persons to grade and mark Dates with the grade designation mark;

(d) General Grading and Marking Rules means the General Grading and Marking Rules, 1988 made under section 3 of the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act, 1937 (1 of 1937);

(e) grade designation mark means the AGMARK Insignia referred to in rule 3;

(f) Legal Metrology (Packed Commodities) Rules means the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, made under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 (1 of 2010); and

(g) Schedule means a Schedule appended to these rules.

(2) Words and expressions used in these rules and not defined, but defined in the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act, 1937 or the General Grading and Marking Rules, shall have the same meaning as are assigned to them under that Act or the rules.

The grade designation mark shall consist of AGMARK Insignia consisting of a design incorporating the certificate of authorisation number, the word AGMARK , name of commodity and grade designation resembling the design as set out in Schedule-I.

The grade designations to indicate the quality of Pitted Dates and Unpitted Dates shall be as set out in column (1) of the Table in Schedule-II and Schedule-III respectively.

For the purposes of these rules, the quality of Pitted Dates and Unpitted Dates shall be as specified in Schedule-II and Schedule-III respectively.

(1) Dates shall be packed in new clean and dry jute bags or cloth bags or poly woven bags with inner lining of food grade material or any bio-degradable packaging materials or poly packs of food grade material or any other packaging material as approved by the Agricultural Marketing Adviser or the officer authorised by him under rule 11 of the General Grading and Marking Rules.

(2) The packaging material shall be free from insect and fungal infestation and should not impart any toxic substance or undesirable odour or flavour or colour to the product.

(3) Dates shall be packed in pack sizes in accordance with the provisions of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules or as may be allowed by the Agricultural Marketing Adviser under rule 11 of the General Grading Marking Rules.

(4) Graded material of small pack sizes of the same lot or batch and grade may be packed in a master container with complete details thereon along with grade designation mark.

(5) Each package shall contain Dates of the same type and of the same grade designation.

(6) Each package shall be properly and securely closed and sealed so as to disallow spilling.

(1) The grade designation mark shall be securely affixed to or printed on each package in the manner approved by the Agricultural Marketing Adviser or the officer authorized by under rule 11 of the General Grading and Marking Rules.

(2) In addition to the grade designation mark, following particulars shall be clearly and indelibly marked on each package, namely:

(a) name of the commodity;

(b) grade;

(c) variety (optional);

(d) lot number;

(e) date of packing;

(f) net weight;

(g) name and address of the packer;

(h) maximum retail price (inclusive of all taxes);

(i) BEST BEFORE MONTH YEAR; and

(j) any other particulars as may be specified under the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, or under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (34 of 2006) or any other law for the time being in force or any instructions issued under the provisions of the Act.

(3) The ink used for marking on packages shall not contaminate the Dates.

(4) The authorised packer may after obtaining prior approval of the Agricultural Marketing Adviser or the officer authorized by him under rule 11 of the General Grading and Marking Rules, mark his private trade mark or trade brand on the graded packages provided it does not indicate quality other than that indicated by the grade designation mark affixed to the graded packages in accordance with these rules.

(1) In addition to the conditions specified in sub-rule (8) of rule 3 of the General Grading and Marking Rules every authorised packer shall follow all instructions issued under the provisions of the Act.

(2) The authorised packer shall either set up his own laboratory as per prescribed norms or have access to an approved state grading laboratory or cooperative or association laboratory or a Private Commercial laboratory manned by a qualified chemist approved by the Agricultural Marketing Adviser or the officer authorized by him under rule 9 of the General Grading and Marking Rules, for testing the quality of Dates.

(3) The premises of authorized packer shall be maintained in hygienic and sanitary conditions with proper ventilations and well lighted arrangement and the personnel engaged in these operations shall be in sound health and free from any infectious, contagious or communicable diseases.

(4) The premises of the authorised packer shall have adequate storage facilities with pucca floor and free from dampness, any kind of cracks and crevices, rodent and insect infestation.

(5) The authorised packer and the approved chemist shall observe all instructions regarding testing, grading, packing, marking, sealing and maintenance of records which may be issued under the provisions of the Act.

(See rule 3)

(Design of AGMARK Insignia)

Name of the Commodity

Grade

(See rules 4 and 5)

Grade designation and quality of Pitted Dates

1. Pitted Dates shall be obtained by drying sound, clean fruits of date tree Phoenix dactylifera Linn. varieties conforming to the characteristics and maturity of such varieties which may have been suitably treated, washed, pasteurized or processed for human consumption. It is commonly known as Khajoor.

2. Minimum Requirements:

(i) Pitted Dates shall,-

(a) be properly cleaned;

(b) have uniform colour and achieved appropriate stage of maturity;

(c) have pleasant taste and flavour characteristic to the variety;

(d) be free from any foreign taste, odour and evidence of fermentation;

(e) be free from living insects, dead insects, insect fragments, insect eggs, mites, rodent contamination and mould growth; and

(f) be free from any added coloring matter;

(ii) for domestic trade, it shall comply with the restrictions in regard to residual levels of metal contaminants, insecticides and pesticides residues, microbial requirements, crop contaminants, naturally occurring toxic substances and other food safety requirements as specified under the Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011, the Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 and other regulations made for domestic trade under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

(iii) for export trade, it shall comply with the residual limits of heavy metals, pesticides and other food safety requirements as laid down by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, or importing countries requirements for export trade.

3. Criteria for grade designation of Pitted Dates.-

*HCl: Hydro Chloric Acid

Explanations. For the purposes of this TABLE,

(a) Extraneous matter means stalks, pieces of shells, pits, fiber, peel, and such other matters; \

(b) Blemished Dates mean Dates affected by sunburn, discoloration, dark spots on the surface;

(c) Damaged Dates mean Dates affected by mashing or tearing of the flesh exposing the pit due to mechanical injury which seriously affects the appearance, edibility and keeping quality or significantly changing the appearance.

4. Other requirements. (i) The condition of the Pitted Dates shall be such as to enable it to

(a) withstand transport and handling;

(b) arrive in satisfactory condition at the place of destination.

(ii) Pitted Dates shall be stored in cool and dry place, maintained in a clean and hygienic condition;

(iii) Pitted Dates may be classified on the basis of their size in accordance with the following table, namely:

The size may be marked on the packages.

(iv) Pitted Dates may be treated with one or more of the ingredients such as Sugar, sucrose, invert sugar, dextrose, dried glucose syrup, flour, vegetable oil and honey, as may be appropriate to the product.

(See rules 4 and 5)

Grade designation and quality of Unpitted Dates

1. Unpitted Dates shall be obtained by drying sound, clean fruits of date tree Phoenix dactylifera Linn. varieties conforming to the characteristics of which may have been suitably treated, washed, pasteurized or processed for human consumption. It is commonly known as Khajoor.

2. Minimum Requirements.-

(i) Unpitted Dates with seed shall,-

(a) be properly cleaned;

(b) have uniform colour and achieved appropriate stage of maturity;

(c) have pleasant taste and flavor characteristic to the variety;

(d) be free from any foreign taste, odour and evidence of fermentation;

(e) be free from living insects, dead insects, insect fragments, mites, rodent contamination and mould growth; and

(f) be free from any added coloring matter;

(ii) for domestic trade, it shall comply with the restrictions in regard to residual levels of metal contaminants, insecticides and pesticides residues, microbial requirements, crop contaminants, naturally occurring toxic substances and other food safety requirements as specified under the Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011, the Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 and other regulations made for domestic trade under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006;

(iii) for export trade, it shall comply with the residual limits of heavy metals, pesticides and other food safety requirements as laid down by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, or importing countries requirements for export trade.

3. Criteria for grade designation of Unpitted Dates.

*HCl: Hydro Chloric Acid

Explanation.- For the purposes of this TABLE,-

(a) Extraneous matter means stalks, pieces of shells, pits, fibre, peel, and such other matters;

(b) Blemished Dates mean Dates affected by sunburn, discoloration, dark spots on the surface;

(c) Damaged Dates mean Dates affected by mashing or tearing of the flesh exposing the pit due to mechanical injury which seriously affects the appearance, edibility and keeping quality or significantly changing the appearance.

4. Other requirements. (i) the condition of the Unpitted Dates shall be such as to enable it to

(a) withstand transport and handling;

(b) arrive in satisfactory condition at the place of destination;

(ii) Unpitted Dates with seed shall be stored in cool and dry place, maintained in a clean and hygienic condition.

(iii) Unpitted Dates may be classified on the basis of their size in accordance with the following table, namely:

The size may be marked on the packages.

(iv) Unpitted Dates may be treated with one or more of the ingredients such as sugar, sucrose, invert sugar, dextrose, dried glucose syrup, flour, vegetable oil and honey, as may be appropriate to the product.

[F. No. Q-11047/03/2018-Std]

PRASANTA KUMAR SWAIN, Jt. Secy. (Marketing)

1. Vide Notification No. G.S.R. 23(E), dated 8-1-2020, published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section 3 Sub-s. (i), No. 21, dated 10-1-2020.