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Today, the United States
Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS) published a final rule that adjusts the fees the U.S.
Government charges to recoup the costs of conducting agricultural
quarantine inspections (AQI) at U.S. ports of entry. The fee
adjustment is based on an independent evaluation by a well-respected
accounting firm with expertise in this area. The firm conducted an
independent user fee review to determine the current cost of AQI activities
and services as well as the future costs of providing these services.
The potential changes to the AQI user fee structure were also subject to an
economic analysis.
The fee adjustment is
necessary, aligning the actual cost of providing the services with what the
U.S. Government charges. APHIS and U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) have made every effort to minimize the impact of fee changes on the
U.S. economy and small businesses, and provided a fair and open comment
process. This adjustment is necessary to sustain a robust AQI
program. The AQI fee adjustments are consistent with the United States'
international trade obligations.
The final rule lowers
inspection fees for international passengers and railcars, and increases
inspection fees for commercial vehicles, commercial trucks, and commercial
aircraft. The final rule also adds fees for the application and monitoring
of phytosanitary treatments and the inspection of cruise ship passengers.
Under the new fee schedule, the U.S. Government will recover approximately
$113 million more in revenue each year, providing total estimated annual
revenue of $748 million on over $2.7 trillion in commercial goods and tens
of millions of air and sea passengers entering the United States each year.
This increase will ensure the financial stability of the AQI program, while
minimizing the impact of fee changes on the U.S. economy and small
businesses.
Congress authorized the
Secretary of Agriculture through the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and
Trade Act of 1990, to prescribe and collect user fees sufficient to cover
the costs of providing AQI services. By this action, Congress intended to
shift most of the program's costs from taxpayers to the people and the
goods that must be inspected upon arrival in the United States. In 2008,
the General Accountability Office (GAO) found that the AQI program was
operating in a deficit increasingly subsidized by taxpayers. GAO
recommended and the Office of Management and Budget directed APHIS to
conduct a thorough review of the fee schedule and propose adjustments to
more fully cover the costs of providing AQI services, reducing the
program's reliance on taxpayer-funded appropriations. In response, APHIS
engaged an independent accounting firm to provide a clear accounting of the
actual costs to deliver AQI services and share recommendations for the
fees. APHIS briefed stakeholders on the findings of the review and then
developed a proposed rule that adjusted the user fees based on the actual
costs of the services. APHIS published the proposed rule in April
2014 and took public comments on it for 90 days, holding several
stakeholder meetings and listening sessions during the comment
period.
APHIS carefully considered
all of the public input it received on the proposed rule, and adjusted the
final fees in response. As a result, certain fees are lower than what
was proposed in April 2014; specifically, air passenger fees were lowered
from $4 to $3.96, commercial truck fees from $8 to $7.55, commercial truck
with transponder fees from $320 to $301.67, and cruise passenger fees from
$2 to $1.75. APHIS kept those fees for commercial aircraft, commercial
cargo vessels, and commercial cargo railcars at the 2014 proposed levels.
In addition, APHIS also lowered the treatment fee from $375 to $237 and
will phase it in over a 5-year period to help reduce the impact to small
businesses. In the first year, the fee will be $47 and will increase
gradually over 5 years until it reaches $237.
The AQI program plays a
critical role in facilitating the safe trade of agricultural commodities
while protecting U.S. agriculture and the environment from harmful plant
and animal pests and diseases. APHIS and CBP work together to carry out AQI
program activities. Under the program, APHIS tracks emerging and new pest
situations around the world; assesses and analyzes pest risks and pest
movements in trade; develops and applies methods to reduce pest risk and
movement in trade; develops passenger and cargo targeting, sampling, and
inspection protocols; inspects live plant shipments; and monitors and stops
illegal movements of agricultural goods in foreign commerce. CBP conducts
pre-arrival analysis, targeting, selectivity, and examination of
international passengers' baggage, commercial commodities, containers,
commercial vessels, trucks, aircraft and railcars at U.S. ports of entry to
determine compliance and entry status using APHIS' regulatory
protocols. The fee adjustments will strengthen the financial
foundation of the AQI program, allowing APHIS and CBP to sustain a robust
AQI program that is a vital component of safe global trade, while making
sure inspection fees are fairly and consistently applied.
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