USDA Seeks to Revise Section 8e Fees on Imported Fruits and Vegetables
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service is proposing to amend certain Section 8e fees related to the inspection and certification of fresh fruits, vegetables and other products.
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The agency is looking into revising the regulations so that Section 8e import inspection fees are charged on a per-pound basis instead of a per-carlot basis, according to a notice in the Federal Register. This would reduce the fee for each additional sublot by 50 percent, and it would establish a new fee calculation for lots less than a carlot.
According to AMS, Section 8e of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937 ensures that imported products meet the same or comparable grade, size, quality and maturity standards as domestic products covered by federal marketing orders.
USDA said it is proposing these changes so that the agency can recover the costs of performing inspection services on imported commodities in accordance with the 1937 act.
USDA said the proposed per-round rate would be calculated by dividing the current inspection fee for a full carlot by the average weight by pound of a full carlot (40,000 pounds) (for example: the current inspection fee for a full carlot ($242) divided by 40,000 would result in a per-pound rate of $0.00605). The division also proposes to use 40,000 lbs. as the appropriate measurement for calculating the per-pound rate. This is generally recognized as the standard weight of the measurement used in inspections, USDA said.