BEANS ARE CLASSIFIED IN THREE CLASSES, AS DEFINED BELOW: |
EXTRA CLASS |
· BEANS IN THIS CLASS MUST BE OF SUPERIOR QUALITY. THEY MUST BE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE VARIETY AND/OR COMMERCIAL TYPE. |
· THEY MUST BE: o TURGID, EASILY SNAPPED; BEANS MUST BREAK VERY CLEANLY BETWEEN THE FINGERS. o VERY TENDER; o PRACTICALLY STRAIGHT; BEANS MUST BE PRACTICALLY STRAIGHT, ACCOUNT BEING TAKEN OF THE TYPICAL SHAPE OF THE VARIETY OR TYPE. o STINGLESS. o SEEDS, IF PRESENT, MUST BE SMALL AND SOFT. HOWEVER, NEEDLE BEANS MUST BE SEEDLESS. |
· THEY MUST BE FREE FROM DEFECTS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF VERY SLIGHT SUPERFICIAL DEFECTS, PROVIDED THESE DO NOT AFFECT THE GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE PRODUCE, THE QUALITY, THE KEEPING QUALITY AND PRESENTATION IN THE PACKAGE. |
· NAME OF ILLUSTRATION o NEEDLE BEANS, SEEDLESS o FRENCH BEANS, SMALL AND SOFT SEEDS o VERY SLIGHT SUPERFICIAL DEFECT |
CLASS I |
· BEANS IN THIS CLASS MUST BE OF GOOD QUALITY. THEY MUST BE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE VARIETY |
· THEY MUST BE: o TURGID; o YOUNG AND TENDER; o PRACTICALLY STRINGLESS EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF BEANS FOR SLICING. |
· SEEDS, IF PRESENT MUST BE SMALL AND SOFT. |
· THE FOLLOWING SLIGHT DEFECTS, HOWEVER, MAY BE ALLOWED, PROVIDED THESE DO NOT AFFECT THE GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE PRODUCE, THE QUALITY, THE KEEPING QUALITY AND PRESENTATION IN THE PACKAGE: o A SLIGHT DEFECT IN SHAPE; THE BEANS MAY BE LESS WELL-FORMED, I.E. SLIGHTLY DEFORMED, AND LESS STRAIGHT. o SLIGHT DEFECTS IN COLOURING; o SLIGHT SKIN DEFECTS. |
· NAME OF ILLUSTRATION o FRENCH BEANS, SMALL AND SOFT SEEDS o SLIGHT DEFECT IN SHAPE, ROUND POD TYPE o SLIGHT DEFECT IN SHAPE, BROAD POD TYPE o SLIGHT SKIN DEFECT o BEAN WITH STRING |
CLASS II |
· THIS CLASS INCLUDES BEANS THAT DO NOT QUALIFY FOR INCLUSION IN THE HIGHER CLASSES BUT SATISFY THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS SPECIFIED ABOVE. |
· BEANS IN THIS CLASS MUST BE OF REASONABLE QUALITY AND SUITABLE FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. |
· THEY MUST BE: o REASONABLY TENDER; o FREE FROM RUST SPOTS IN THE CASE OF NEEDLE BEANS. |
· SEEDS, IF PRESENT, SHOULD NOT BE TOO LARGE AND MUST BE REASONABLY SOFT. |
· THE SEEDS MAY BE A LITTLE LARGER THAN IN CLASS I BUT MUST STILL BE TENDER FOR THE VARIETY. |
· THE FOLLOWING DEFECTS MAY BE ALLOWED PROVIDED THE BEANS RETAIN THEIR ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS AS REGARDS THE QUALITY, THE KEEPING QUALITY AND PRESENTATION: o DEFECTS IN SHAPE; THE BEANS MAY BE LESS WELL-FORMED AND LESS STRAIGHT. o DEFECTS IN COLOURING; SOME DEFECTS IN COLOURING ARE ALLOWED COMPARED WITH THE CHARACTERISTIC COLOUR OF THE VARIETY OR COMMERCIAL TYPE, PROVIDED THAT THEY ARE NOT DUE TO DISEASE AND THAT THEY DO NOT DETRACT FROM THE GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE PRODUCE. o SKIN DEFECTS; o STRINGS; o SLIGHT RUST SPOTS EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF NEEDLE BEANS. |
· NAME OF ILLUSTRATION o FRENCH BEANS, NOT TOO LARGE SEEDS, REASONABLY SOFT o DEFECT IN SHAPE, ROUND POD TYPE o DEFECT IN SHAPE, BROAD POD TYPE o SKIN DEFECT DUE TO RUBBING o SLIGHT HEALED BRUISES o BEAN WITH STRING o SLIGHT RUST SPOTS |
