This is a reprint from this weeks Cotton’s Week. Please make sure the proper bagging and tie codes are included in your software beginning this season.

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Bag/Tie Codes Required for Warehouse Receipts

With the 2017 crop now being harvested, ginned and stored, the NCC is reminding industry members of the importance of proper bale identification, including adherence to multiple requirements.

First, all warehouses with USDA Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Cotton Storage Agreements and cotton gins are reminded that bag and tie codes are required elements of warehouse receipts.

This year’s Joint Cotton Industry Bale Packaging Committee (JCIBPC) action to require the inclusion of bag and tie codes on warehouse receipts was approved by USDA-CCC in Kansas City. A note referencing the new requirement is included in the current year’s specifications for cotton bale packaging material (specifications) which, along with bag and tie codes, can be found on the NCC’s website at www.cotton.org/tech/bale/specs/tare-weights.cfm. As stated in the specifications “… the JCIBPC strongly encourages software vendors to accommodate fields for bagging and tie types in their software …” (for gins and warehouses). Gins are reminded that they should make sure warehouses are aware of the type of bags and ties they are using and the tare weight of their combined bags and ties in accordance with a gin’s form CCC-809, the “Cooperating Ginner’s Bagging and Bale Ties Certification and Agreement.”

Second, gins and warehouses are reminded of the importance of properly tagging bales and making sure the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) classing coupons always match the permanent bale identification (PBI) tags on bales. This will help avoid the use of invalid PBI tags on bales and AMS classing coupons. With many gins and warehouses using extra (safety) tags in addition to the required PBI tag on each bale, it is important to make sure all barcoded and eye-readable numbers on a bale match with those on the AMS coupon.

Without continuous monitoring of the tagging and sampling process by gins, numbers easily can get out of sequence. This is particularly true with systems that automatically tag bales. Typically, AMS coupons are in a box and the PBI tags are on a separate roll. Some auto-labeling systems use a second roll for safety tags. With multiple rolls and coupons in use, the need for continuous monitoring of tag numbers is imperative to account for the increased potential for miss-tagging.

Third, gins are reminded that according to the Guide for Cotton Bale Standards (on the NCC’s website at www.cotton.org/tech/bale/upload/guide-cotton-bale-standards.pdf) a requirement for a “Grade A” bale is the placement of PBI tags on, not under, bale bags. Gins should be aware that the practice of placing anything, including PBI tags, underneath the bale bag will be treated as lint contamination by some textile manufacturers. Mills and warehouses also have made it known that the PBI tag should always be placed on a round side, not the flat sides (top or bottom of a bale), even if safety tags are used.