(a)

(1) Each lot of burley tobacco displayed for sale on auction warehouse floors shall have a minimum space of 24 inches from butts to butts between the rows. Distances between lots of tobacco within the row shall be no less than 8 inches between immediately adjacent lots.

(2) The number of bales on a pallet shall not exceed eight. Tobacco packed in bales shall have the stems turned toward the aisle.

(3) Each warehouse operator shall display a plainly visible sign showing the total number of lots of burley tobacco allotted to be sold each day. Such sign shall be displayed at the point of lots where the days' sales will conclude and no additional tobacco shall be graded beyond that point.

(4) Each warehouse operator shall arrange his entire day's sale in a continuous and orderly arrayed sequence of lots and rows of tobacco. Any arrangement of tobacco in rows of progressively varying lengths, or any deviations from an orderly arrayed sequence of lots and rows of tobacco, shall have prior approval of the Set Work Leader or Circuit Supervisor.

(5) Each warehouse operator shall designate to the Set Work Leader or Circuit Supervisor the starting point or lot for each day's sale, and counting and grading will begin at this designated point and proceed to the closing point of the sale in an orderly sequence. All lot spaces, containing or not containing a lot of tobacco, and all lots of tobacco, covered or uncovered, shall be counted and included in the daily sales allotment. Lots of tobacco shall not be removed, added, rearranged, or substituted between the time they are counted for the day's sale and the time they are graded for the day's sale, provided, however, that with prior approval of the Set Work Leader or Circuit Supervisor compensating lots of tobacco may be substituted for empty spaces and covered lots included in a daily sales count.

(6) Each operator of a warehouse at which baled burley tobacco is offered for sale shall open the particular bale, in a lot of tobacco, chosen by a grader for inspection and reseal that bale after inspection.

(7) Each seller, by offering burley tobacco for sale, certifies that the lot inspected by a grader is representative of the grade of all the tobacco in that lot, that the leaf was stalk-cured, that the bales do not contain any foreign matter or material, and are not nested.

(b) Before starting inspection of the day's sale of burley tobacco in each warehouse, the Set Work Leader or Circuit Supervisor shall determine if there is compliance with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section. If he determines that the prescribed requirements have not been followed, the inspector shall proceed to the next sale or sales as originally scheduled for that day and grade the number of lots of tobacco scheduled for such sale or sales, and shall return to the noncomplying warehouse on the next regularly scheduled sales day for such warehouse, at which time the Set Work Leader or Circuit Supervisor shall again determine if the prescribed system has been followed before starting the inspection. If noncompliance or failure to observe requirements of paragraph (a) of this section are discovered after inspection for the day's sale has started, the inspector shall discontinue inspection and proceed to the next sale or sales scheduled for that day and shall return to the noncomplying warehouse on the next regularly scheduled sales day for such warehouse.

(c) The provisions of this section shall not preclude the application of other administrative remedies or the institution of criminal proceedings in appropriate cases as provided by the Act.

[30 FR 12627, Oct. 2, 1965, as amended at 47 FR 51721, Nov. 17, 1982; 56 FR 31534, July 11, 1991]