public-service · USDA beef grading standard
What the AMS Carcass Beef Standard Says About USDA Grades
AMS's carcass-beef standard states who maintains the document, its CFR history, and its displayed effective date.
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Updated: Sources: 3
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What matters now
- The standard says it is maintained by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).
- The standard left the CFR on June 30, 1998 and is now kept as AMS 54.100 et seq.
- The current standard states an effective date of December 18, 2017.
- The document describes its classes, standards, and grades as the most current to date.
- The standard cites its legal basis as 60 Stat. 1087; 7 U.S.C. 1621-1627.
The United States Standards for Grades of Carcass Beef is a document maintained by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). It says that the classes, standards, and grades were removed from the Code of Federal Regulations on June 30, 1998 and are maintained by AMS as “AMS 54.100 et seq.” The displayed document carries an “Effective date December 18, 2017” (Carcass Beef Standard PDF, USDA AMS).
This original record-reading guide is a general reading aid, not cited evidence. It does not depict a source record; the article text and source links provide the facts.
Key points
- The standard says it is maintained by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service.
- The standard left the Code of Federal Regulations on June 30, 1998, and now lives as an AMS-numbered document, “AMS 54.100 et seq.”
- The displayed document states an “Effective date December 18, 2017,” and notes that “the standards are reprinted with amendments effective December 18, 2017.”
- The document describes its classes, standards, and grades as “the most current to date.”
- The standard’s statutory basis is cited in the document itself as “(60 Stat. 1087; 7 U.S.C. 1621-1627).”
Who maintains the standard
The standard states that “the United States Classes, Standards, and Grades of Carcass Beef were removed from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) on June 30, 1998. They are maintained by the USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), as AMS 54.100 et seq.” (Carcass Beef Standard PDF, USDA AMS). This identifies the document as an AMS-maintained standard rather than a CFR citation.
Where the standard lives now
The standard says it was removed from the CFR in 1998 and is maintained by AMS as AMS 54.100 et seq. The sources below include the underlying standard and AMS pages for carcass-beef grades and beef grading.
The document’s stated effective date
The displayed document states an “Effective date December 18, 2017” and separately notes that “the standards are reprinted with amendments effective December 18, 2017” (Carcass Beef Standard PDF, USDA AMS). It also describes its classes, standards, and grades as “the most current to date.”
Legal basis cited in the document
The standard’s own text cites its statutory authority as “(60 Stat. 1087; 7 U.S.C. 1621-1627)” (Carcass Beef Standard PDF, USDA AMS). This is the citation AMS itself prints in the governing document; this article does not interpret or summarize what that statute otherwise covers beyond what is quoted here.
What this article does not answer
This article is limited to the statements displayed in AMS’s standard about its maintenance, CFR history, stated effective date, and cited legal basis. It does not determine the classification of a particular product or interpret other package claims.
Source links
https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/CarcassBeefStandard.pdf https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/carcass-beef-grades-and-standards https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/beef