OAR 603-051-0010: Tolerances

(1) In order to allow for variations incident to proper grading and handling in each of the Oregon grades (OAR 603-051-0005), the following tolerances are provided as specified: (a) Defects: (A) Oregon Extra Fancy, Oregon Fancy, and Oregon Hail grades: Ten percent of the apples in any lot may fail to meet the requirement of the grade, but not more than 1/2 of this amount, or five percent, shall be allowed for apples which are seriously damaged, including therein not more than one percent for apples affected by decay or internal breakdown. (B) Oregon C grade: Ten percent of the apples in any lot may fail to meet the requirements of the grade, but not more than 1/2 of this amount, or five percent, shall be allowed for apples which are seriously damaged by insects and including in the total tolerance not more than one percent for apples affected by decay or internal breakdown. (b) When applying the foregoing tolerances to Combination grades, no part of any tolerance shall be allowed to reduce, for the lot as a whole, the 25 percent of apples of the higher grade required in the combination, but individual containers shall have not less than 15 percent of the higher grade; (c) Size: When size is designated by the numerical count for a container, not more than five percent of the apples in the lot may vary more than 1/4 inch in diameter. When size is designated by minimum or maximum diameter, not more than five percent of the apples in any lot may be smaller than the designated minimum and not more than 10 percent may be larger than the designated maximum. (2) Application of Tolerances. The contents of individual packages in the lot are subject to the following limitations; provided, that the averages for the entire lot are within the tolerances specified for the grade: (a) Packages which contain more than 10 pounds shall have not more than 1-1/2 times a specified tolerance of 10 percent or more and not more than double a tolerance of less than 10 percent, except that at least one apple which is seriously damaged by insects or affected by decay or internal breakdown may be permitted in any package; (b) Packages which contain 10 pounds or less. Not over 10 percent of the packages may have more than three times the tolerance specified, except that at least one defective apple may be permitted in any package; provided, that no more than one apple or more than six percent (whichever is the larger amount) may be seriously damaged by insects or affected by decay or internal breakdown.