The International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs Act assigns to the Secretary of Agriculture the responsibility for implementation of the Agreement on the International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on the Special Equipment to be Used for Such Carriage (ATP). The purpose of this rule is to establish procedures for the inspection, testing, and certification of insulated, refrigerated, mechanically refrigerated, and heated transport equipment in accordance with the Act and the standards specified in the Agreement. In the process, the intent is to utilize existing industry organizations and facilities for testing and inspection of equipment. The Secretary is the sole authority to issue certificates of compliance.

Administrator means the Administrator, Office of Transportation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, whose address is: 1405 Auditors Building, 201 14th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20250.

ATP means the Agreement on the International Carriage of Perishable Foodstuffs and on the Special Equipment to be Used for Such Carriage (ATP), and the annexes and appendices thereto, done at Geneva, September 1, 1970, under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Europe, and any subsequent amendments thereto. 1

ATP manager means the person designated by the Administrator to manage the program established by this rule, whose address is: ATP Manager, Office of Transportation, U.S Department of Agriculture, 1405 Auditors Building, 201 14th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20250.

Contracting party means a country which is signatory to the ATP.

Domestic owner means an organization incorporated or chartered under the laws of, and with principal office in, the United States, and to which one of the following applies:

(a) The organization owns and operates the equipment directly.

(b) The organization owns and operates the equipment through a wholly owned subsidiary in a foreign country.

(c) The organization is a lessee or bailee of the equipment, and a written lease or bailment provides that the organization is responsible for any inspection, testing, and certification of the equipment with respect to the ATP rule.

Equipment means the special transport equipment that meets the definitions and standards set forth in ATP, Annex 1, including, but not limited to, railcars, trucks, trailers, semitrailers, and intermodal freight containers that have an insulated body only, or an insulated body equipped with a refrigerating, mechanically refrigerating, or heating appliance.

Equipment manufacturer means an organization which producers or assembles the complete unit of equipment, that is, the insulated body with the thermal appliance installed.

Foreign owner means an organization registered under the laws of, or with principal office in, a country outside the United States, and which owns or operates the equipment.

Foreign-ATP certificate means a certificate issued by a foreign country which is a contracting party to the ATP, attesting that the equipment listed in the certificate complies with pertinent standards in the ATP.

Identical mechanical refrigerating appliance means an appliance which is of the same model number and design as the reference mechanical refrigerating appliance.

Insulated body means the six-sided structural component of equipment, consisting of insulated doors, sidewalls, roof, floor, and endwall, inside which perishable foodstuffs are carried.

International carriage means transportation of perishable foodstuffs if such foodstuffs are loaded in equipment or the equipment containing them is loaded onto a rail or road vehicle, in the territory of any country and such foodstuffs are, or the equipment containing them is, unloaded in the territory of another country that is a contracting party, where such transportation is by:

(a) Rail,

(b) Road,

(c) Any combination of rail and road, or

(d) Any sea crossing of less than one hundred and fifty kilometers, if preceded or followed by one or more land journeys as referred to in clauses (a), (b), and (c) of this definition, and the perishable foodstuffs are shipped in the same equipment used for such land journeys without transloading of such foodstuffs.

New equipment means equipment produced or assembled on or after the effective date of this rule.

Perishable foodstuffs means the quick deep-frozen and frozen food products listed in Annex 2, and the chilled food products listed in Annex 3 to the ATP.

Reference equipment means a unit of equipment which has passed a test in an approved testing station, and can thereby serve as a basis for certification of related serially-produced equipment.

Reference insulated body means an insulated body which has passed a test in an approved testing station for measurement of the K-coefficient of the body, and can thereby serve as the basis for approval of serially-produced bodies in the case in which the body and the mechanical refrigerating appliance of the equipment are tested separately.

Reference mechanical refrigerating appliance means an appliance which has passed a test in an approved testing laboratory, and can thereby serve as the basis for approval of identical mechanical refrigerating appliances in the case in which the appliance and the insulated body of the equipment are tested separately.

Serially-produced bodies means insulated bodies which meet the definition in ATP, Annex 1 Appendix 1, paragraph 2(c)(i).

Serially-produced equipment means equipment of a specific type (container, semi-trailer, trailer, truck, or container), which meets the definition in ATP, Annex 1, Appendix 1, paragraphs 2(c), (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv).

Thermal appliance means the refrigerating, mechanical refrigerating, or heating appliance which is installed in the insulated body of the equipment.

United States means the fifty States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands of the United States, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory or possession of the United States.

U.S. ATP certificate means a certificate issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, attesting that the equipment listed in the certificate complies with pertinent standards in the ATP.

U.S. ATP testing laboratory means a facility in the United States which has been approved by the Administrator to conduct tests of mechanical refrigerating appliances.

U.S. ATP testing station means a facility in the United States which has been approved by the Administrator to conduct tests of equipment.