- Product category What the item is: one of ten numbered product groups and its sorting category.
RTX-402 - Condition and safety How good it is: safety gate first, then a draft quality class A–D.
RTX-401 · RTX-207 - Legal status Whether it is a product or waste under applicable law – decided outside the quality label.
RTX-205 - Destination and route Where it goes next and which records accompany the batch.
RTX-203-1 · RTX-206
One label must not stand in for all four answers. Each decision needs its own evidence.
Three separate decisions
Record the product category and condition, the legal status of the material and its intended destination separately. Mixing these fields makes it difficult to check whether the evidence supports a shipment or a claim.
Safety comes first
Under draft RTX-401, an item excluded for safety reasons is not assigned a lower quality grade. It is a separate exclusion decision under RTX-207. Class D, in contrast, identifies repair or reconditioning needs and requires the applicable information and controls.
What a buyer should ask
Ask which version of the grading criteria was used, how the batch was sampled and which defects were recorded. Do not infer legal product status from an A, B, C or D label.
Why the distinction matters in trade
Contracts and shipping documents often combine category, grade and status in one description. When a dispute arises, it is then unclear whether the problem concerns the condition of the goods, their classification or their legal status. Separate fields make each element checkable.
How sampling supports a class
A batch class is only as reliable as the inspection behind it. RTX-403 describes types of inspection, sampling plans and how nonconformities are handled; RTX-401 includes batch tolerances. A class stated without information on sampling is difficult to verify.