§147-7  Inspection and classification of
agricultural commodities; fees.  (a)  The department may contract with the
United States Department of Agriculture for obtaining the services of a
supervising inspector employed by the federal department and the establishment
of a cooperative inspection service with the United States government.  The
department, or the supervising inspector, with the approval of the department,
may designate any competent employee or agent of the department as an inspector
to inspect or classify agricultural commodities in accordance with rules of the
department, and at the time and places designated by the supervising inspector
or the department.



(b)  The inspectors shall be authorized to
inspect or classify agricultural commodities at the request of persons having a
financial interest in the commodities, or as mandated by subsection (d), and to
ascertain and certify to the persons the grade, classification, quality,
condition, or origin of them and other pertinent facts.



(c)  The department may fix, assess, and
collect or cause to be collected fees for the services when they are performed
by employees of the department.  The fees shall be on a uniform basis and in an
amount reasonably necessary to cover the cost of inspection and the
administration of this part; provided that the department may prescribe a
reasonable charge for traveling expenses and extraordinary services when the
performance of the services involves unusual cost in their performance.  No fee
shall be charged for an inspection unless the inspection was requested by a
person having a financial interest in the inspected commodity or the inspection
was mandated by subsection (d).



(d)  All Hawaii-grown green coffee beans shall
be inspected and certified by the department for grade and origin unless
otherwise specified by rules of the department.



(e)  The department may adopt rules
establishing the requirements, procedures, restrictions, and other criteria
necessary for establishing a program of self inspection and certification of
agricultural commodities. [L 1945, c 252, §7; RL 1955, §22-6; am L Sp 1959 2d,
c 1, §22; am L 1961, c 132, §2; HRS §147-7; am L 1978, c 12, §1; am L Sp 1995,
c 8, §2; am L 1997, c 345, §2]