A major strength of the U.S. grain production and marketing system is the variety of consistent, impartially tested grades, classes and prices that it can offer customers around the world. In the U.S. marketing system, quality requirements for grain exports are governed by both contract and specifications and complex, constantly evolving, government-regulated guidelines that cover the inspection, sampling, grading and weighing of grain. These grains standards and inspection procedures are designed to ensure a uniform product and to facilitate the trading and marketing of U.S. grain.

Official certification is mandatory for export grain sold by grade. It must be inspected and officially weighed through a process handled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS). These technicians observe and verify weighing and loading of grain and monitor scales and grain flow security. All findings are reported on a certificate, which represents the entire inspected lot.

Additional inspection services for quality information can be requested by the buyer or provided as a service from the seller. Any certificates from this process include the resulting information, but are not official FGIS certificates.