OC submits comments on APHIS permit fees

[Laura Bies]

Recently, USDA Veterinary Services’s Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS) announced that it will increase certain fees, including the fees to receive, amend or renew import permits. APHIS is required by law to charge fees for these services. The agency does not receive any Congressional appropriations to cover the cost of certain veterinary diagnostics or to provide import/export related services for animals, animal products and byproducts, birds, germplasm, organisms, and vectors, so the agency’s ability provide these services depends on user fees.

Last year, APHIS finalized a rule changing how the agency updates and display fees. Individual fees are no longer included in the official regulations, but are instead updated on an annual basis (through a Federal Register notice) and posted online.

Generally, the fees included in the announcement are an increase from the current fees. According to the agency, these increases are based on several factors including: time, inflation, increase in subject matter expert workload, a shift in the level of work complexity, and trade and the general economy. The current fees were established in 2011 and 2012, using the best available 2009 data. 

In response to the announcement, the Ornithological Council submitted comments to APHIS. While we generally support the fee structure, the comments repeat our request to extended the duration of APHIS import and transport permits, which are currently valid for only one year. Other agencies, like USFWS, issue import permits for 3-year durations. Read the comments submitted by the OC here.