(1) In case any owner, consignee, or shipper of any commodity included under the provisions of this chapter, or his or her agent or broker, or any warehouse operator shall be aggrieved at the grading of such commodity, the person may request a reinspection or appeal inspection within three business days from the date of certificate. The reinspection or appeal may be based in the official file sample or upon a new sample drawn from the lot of the grain or commodity if the lot remains intact and available for sampling. The reinspection or appeal inspection shall be of the same factors and scope as the original inspection.

(2) For commodities inspected under federal standards, the reinspection and appeal inspection procedure provided in the applicable federal regulations shall apply. For commodities inspected under state standards, the department shall provide a minimum of a reinspection and appeal inspection service. The reinspection shall consist of a full review of all relevant information and a reexamination of the commodity to determine the correctness of the grade assigned or other determination. The reinspection shall be performed by an authorized inspector of the department other than the inspector who performed the original inspection unless no other inspector is available. An appeal inspection shall be performed by a supervisory inspector.

(3) If the grading of any commodity for which federal standards have been fixed and the same adopted as official state standards has not been the subject of a hearing, in accordance with subsection (2) of this section, any interested party who is aggrieved with the grading of such commodity, may, with the approval of the secretary of the United States department of agriculture, appeal to the federal grain supervisor of the supervision district in which the state of Washington may be located. Such federal grain supervisor shall confer with the department inspectors and any other interested party and shall make such tests as he or she may deem necessary to determine the correct grade of the commodity in question. Such federal grade certificate shall be prima facie evidence of the correct grade of the commodity in any court in the state of Washington.

Severability—1989 c 354: See note following RCW 15.36.012.