Melissa O’Dell (301) 734-5222
Jerry Redding (202) 720-4623
USDA PROPOSES TO ADJUST EXPORT CERTIFICATION USER FEES FOR PLANTS AND PLANT PRODUCTS
WASHINGTON, June 12, 2007--The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service today announced a proposal to adjust the user fees charged for export certification of plants and plant products. These user fees would be increased for fiscal years 2007 through 2012 to reflect the anticipated costs associated with providing export certification services each year.
Specifically, APHIS is proposing to adjust the fees for the following services:
- Certification for export or reexport of a commercial shipment would increase from $50 to $99;
- Certification for export or reexport of a low-value commercial shipment would increase from $23 to $57;
- Certification for export or reexport of a noncommercial shipment would increase from $23 to $57; and
- Replacement of any certificate for export or reexport would increase from $7 to $14
In addition, APHIS is also proposing to add a new user fee for exporters who obtain federal export certificates for plants and plant products from state or county cooperators in order to recover administrative costs associated with that service. The proposed fee for state or county issued export certificates is $16.
These proposed changes, which are the first in 10 years, would enable APHIS to properly recover the costs of providing export certification services for plants and plant products.
This proposed rule is published in the June 12 Federal Register.
Consideration will be given to comments received on or before Aug. 13. Send an original and three copies of postal mail or commercial delivery comments to Docket No. APHIS-2006-0137, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, Md. 20737-1238. If you wish to submit a comment using the Internet, go to the Federal eRulemaking portal at http://www.regulations.gov, select "Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service" from the agency drop-down menu; then click on "Submit." In the Docket ID column, select APHIS-2006-0137 to submit or view public comments and to view supporting and related materials available electronically.
Comments are posted on the Regulations.gov Web site and may also be reviewed at USDA, Room 1141, South Building, 14th St. and Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C., between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. To facilitate entry into the comment reading room, please call (202) 690-2817.
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