United States Standards for Grades of Pistachio Nuts in the Shell, and United States Standards for Grades of Shelled Pistachio Nuts

This rule revises the United States Standards for Grades of Pistachio Nuts in the Shell and the United States Standards for Grades of Shelled Pistachio Nuts. The revisions will modify the standards to more closely align grade names with other tree-nut commodities and current industry-recognized marketing terms, reduce the tolerance for internal defects for the purpose of providing a higher degree of quality assurance, relax tolerances of the level of light stain on the shell in the various grade levels based on consumer preferences, more objectively define when nuts are damaged by various factors, and include two in-shell grade specifications which reflect the industry's byproduct. These standards are issued under the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946. These changes will promote greater uniformity and consistency in the standards, as well as provide consistency with current marketing practices.