United States Department of Agriculture

Agricultural Marketing Service

Federal Grain Inspection Service

Program Notice FGIS PN-15-02 September 24, 2015

Distribution: FGIS, OSP, Industry Originating Office: TSD

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in its programs on the basis of race, color, 

national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, and marital or familial status. (Not all prohibited 

bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternate means for communication of program 

information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and 

TDD).

To file a complaint, write to the USDA, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, 

Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal employment opportunity 

employer.

VISUAL REFERENCE IMAGE INTERPRETIVE LINE PRINTS

Contents

VISUAL REFERENCE IMAGE INTERPRETIVE LINE PRINTS ����������������������������������������1

1. PURPOSE �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

2. BACKGROUND �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

3. EFFECTIVE DATE ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

4. REQUIREMENTS ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

5. ACTION �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

6.QUESTIONS �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
FGIS PN-15-02 September 24, 2015

Page 2

1. PURPOSE

This notice announces that the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), Federal Grain 

Inspections Service (FGIS) is clarifying the requirement that all Official Service 

Providers (OSPs) ensure applicable Interpretive Line Prints (ILP) are available at 

all inspection locations. ILPs are printed Visual Reference Images (VRI) approved

by FGIS’s Board of Appeals and Review (BAR) for use within the Official inspection 

program. This notice clarifies guidance contained in section 3.2.b of the Quality 

Handbook. This clarification will be incorporated into the Quality Handbook when the 

latter is updated

2. BACKGROUND

VRIs are used to ensure consistent and uniform application of grading interpretations

The visual grading aid system represents the foundation for the national inspection 

system’s sensory quality control program, providing an effective management tool for 

aligning inspectors and assisting them in making proper and consistent sensory grading 

decisions. VRIs are referenced throughout the Grain Inspection Handbooks and other

Directives and guidance

The ILPs are a series of commodity-specific printed VRIs illustrating types of damage 

and other factors in conjunction with written descriptions. The ILPs are designed to

reduce the impact of perceptional differences between inspectors.

3. EFFECTIVE DATE

These program requirements are effective as of the date of this issuance.

4. REQUIREMENTS

All Official Service Providers, including both FGIS Field Offices and Official Agencies, 

are required to ensure access to current FGIS generated VRI-ILP for the commodities 

inspected by the OSP at every inspection location. The OSP is not required to have

every VRI available at all times, just the VRIs that apply to the commodity for which they 

are providing official inspections at that time (e.g., if the OSP is inspecting Corn, the 

Corn VRIs must be on-site and accessible to the inspector). This requirement can be

met in one of two ways:

a. The OSP may provide each inspector with a “travelling” set of the applicabl

VRI-ILP, or

b. The OSP may maintain a set of the applicable VRI-ILP at the specific

service point.
FGIS PN-15-02 September 24, 2015

Page 3

5. ACTION

Obtain copies of the VRI-ILP from the Technology and Science Division of FGIS.

Contact Ruth Goff at ruth.r.goff@usda.gov or 816-891-0499. FGIS will notify OSPs

when an update of VRI-ILP becomes available

Retain this Program Notice until the Quality Handbook is updated to reflect this 

requirement

6. QUESTIONS

Direct any questions regarding the use of VRI- ILP to the Board of Appeals and Review 

at 816-891-0421