(b) All certified seed potatoes shall be graded in conformity with the requirements of blue, yellow or white tag grades.

1. (1) Blue tag grade. Blue tag grade shall meet the requirements of U.S. No. 1 seed potatoes. Reference, “United States Standard for Grades of Seed Potatoes”, effective March 6, 1987, United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Marketing Services, Washington, DC. This document is available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. It is available for public inspection and copying in the counsel's office or in the office of the Director of Plant Industry, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Capital Plaza, One Winners Circle, Albany, NY 12235.

2. (2) Yellow tag grade. Yellow tag grade consists of potatoes identified as certified seed or of one variety which meet the following requirements:

   1. (i) fairly well shaped;
   2. (ii) free from: freezing injury, blackheart, late blight tuber rot, nematode or tuber moth injury, bacterial ring rot, soft rot or wet breakdown;
   3. (iii) free from serious damage caused by: hollow heart, growth cracks, dirt and/or other foreign material;
   4. (iv) free from damage by sprouts and growth cracks and any other cause;
   5. (v) size: minimum diameter, unless otherwise specified, shall not be less than 1 ½ inches; and maximum size, unless otherwise specified, shall not exceed 3 ¼ inches in diameter or 12 ounces in weight;
   6. (vi) factors not affecting grade: brown discoloration following skinning, dried stems, flattened depressed areas (showing no underlying flesh discoloration), greening, skin checks, and sunburn do not affect seed quality, and shall not be scored against the grade. In addition, sprouts shall not be scored against New York yellow tag grade, after March 31st of the year following production; and

   7. (vii) tolerances: in order to allow for variations incident to proper grading and handling in the foregoing grade, the following tolerances, by weight, are provided as specified.

      1. (a) For defects:

         1. (1) Twenty percent for potatoes in any lot which are seriously damaged by growth cracks.
         2. (2) Twenty percent for potatoes in any lot which are seriously damaged by hollow heart.
         3. (3) Twenty percent for potatoes in any lot with sprouts over one inch in length prior to April 1st.

         4. (4) Twenty percent for potatoes which fail to meet the remaining requirements of the grade including therein not more than 10 percent seriously damaged and further provided that included in these tolerances not more than the following percentages shall be allowed for the defects listed:

            	Percent
            Bacterial ring rot	0.00
            Serious damage by dry or moist type fusarium tuber rot	2.00
            Late blight tuber rot	1.00
            Nematode or tuber moth injury	0.00
            Varietal mixture	0.25
            Frozen, soft rot or wet breakdown 3	0.50

      2. (b) For size:

         1. (1) Undersize. Three percent for potatoes in any lot which fail to meet the required or specified minimum size except five percent shall be allowed when the minimum size specified is 2 ¼ inches or more in diameter or five ounces or more in weight.
         2. (2) Oversize. Ten percent for any potatoes in any lot which fail to meet the required or specified maximum size.

3. (3) White tag grade. White tag grade shall consist of potatoes identified as certified seed of one variety which meet the following requirements:

   1. (i) free from: freezing injury, blackheart, late blight tuber rot, nematode or tuber moth injury, bacterial ring rot, soft rot or wet breakdown.

   2. (ii) tolerances: in order to allow for variations incident to proper grading and handling in the foregoing grade, the following tolerances, by weight, are provided as specified.

      	Percent
      Bacterial ring rot	0.00
      Serious damage by dry or moist type fusarium tuber rot	2.00
      Late blight tuber rot	1.00
      Nematode or tuber moth injury	0.00
      Varietal mixture	0.25
      Frozen, soft rot or wet breakdown 4	0.50

      (c) Definitions.

4. (1) Damage means any defect (except sunburn, greening, flattened depressed areas, external brown surface discoloration following skinning, dried stems and dirt) or any combination of defects which detracts from the internal or external appearance of the potato, or any external defect which cannot be removed without a loss of more than five percent of the total weight of the potato.
5. (2) Serious damage means any defect (except sunburn, greening, flattened depressed areas, external brown surface discoloration following skinning, growth cracks and dried stems) or any combination of defects which seriously detracts from the internal or external appearance of the potato, or any external defect which cannot be removed without a loss of more than 10 percent of the total weight of the potato.
6. (3) Serious damage by dirt means that an individual potato is badly caked with dirt.
7. (4) Damage by sprouts means any potato having sprouts over one inch in length.
8. (5) For other definitions, application of tolerances, sampling procedures and size determination, see U.S. standards for grades of seed potatoes.