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Unit OT 18-35, Level 18, Central Park Towers, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai, P.O. Box 18006, United Arab Emirates
Unit OT 18-35, Level 18, Central Park Towers, Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai, P.O. Box 18006, United Arab Emirates
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14 Sep 2023 / United States
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is seeking comments on a proposed rule to amend regulations governing its Agricultural Quarantine and Inspection (AQI) program user fees.
Fees for the AQI program were last updated in 2015, based on FY 2010 through FY 2012 cost data, which puts them more than a decade behind today’s circumstances. The outdated fee structure, combined with recent changes in international travel and shipping, mean that current fees do not generate enough revenue to cover the costs of the AQI services provided.
To develop the proposed rule, APHIS conducted a comprehensive review of the AQI program to determine the actual costs incurred by APHIS and CBP to deliver AQI services. The updated cost model, which was validated by the accounting firm Grant Thornton, relies on real-world cost data from fiscal years (FY) 2017 through 2019 and, among other things, accounts for inflation, capital improvements, and additional staffing needs.
For FY 2017 through FY 2019, the AQI program ran an average annual deficit of over $166million, jeopardizing APHIS’ and CBP’s ability to effectively administer and carry out the program. From 2010 to 2021, agricultural cargo imports grew over 61% by volume, a year-on-year increase of 4.5%, across all conveyance types. AQI staffing dedicated to conveyance and cargo clearance was not able keep pace with this growth. Workload per frontline employee increased 25% by volume from 2010 to 2021.
At the same time, relatively recent changes in international trade have created additional challenges with the static user fees. Dramatic changes in the size of conveyances and the amounts they transport have resulted in more work being done with less funding because the fees are tied to the number of conveyance arrivals, not the volume of cargo contained within them.
APHIS will consider all comments received on or before October 10, 2023. Go to www.regulations.gov. Enter APHIS-2022-0023 in the search field. Select the Documents tab, and then select the Comment button in the list of documents.
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