A Win for U.S. Pork: USDA to Raise User Fees for Quarantine and Inspection Program

May 7, 2024 — 

USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will raise the user fees for the Agricultural Quarantine and Inspection (AQI) program effective Oct. 1, 2024. The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) said it supports the hike, which will help fund the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agricultural inspectors stationed at U.S. ports of entry and carrying out the AQI program.

"The $1 trillion U.S. agriculture sector is a crucial component of the American economy," NPPC wrote in Capital Update. Agriculture inspection of international passengers and cargo is carried out by CBP's agriculture specialists, technicians and canine teams. These CBP personnel are ordinarily funded by AQI service user fees, collected by APHIS, and transferred to CBP to cover salaries and expenses of the inspectors.

"Passenger and cargo transporters pay user fees for the program. Because of changes in international travel and shipping, such as larger ships and increased cargo volume, the current fees, which were last updated in 2015, no longer generate enough revenue to cover the costs of the AQI program," NPPC wrote.

In comments on the proposed higher user fees submitted to APHIS last fall, NPPC said increased user fees can provide the necessary funding to strengthen programs, enhance inspections, and implement preventative measures to safeguard agricultural production.

"The AQI program was running at a significant deficit, even before the COVID-19 pandemic placed unprecedented strain on the system. The proposed changes to the user fee program will address this funding deficit, as well as address the recently identified threat of plant and animal disease and pests presented by certain, previously exempt, pathways," NPPC wrote in its comments to APHIS last fall. "It is imperative that the agriculture inspection program has the resources needed to ensure our nation's agriculture and natural resources are protected."

In 2020, NPPC played a leading role in securing passage of the Protecting America's Food and Agriculture Act, which authorized the CBP to hire an additional 720 agricultural inspectors.

[Source: Farm Journal's Pork 6 May 2024 by Jennifer Shike]