In response to questions about new user fees for agricultural quarantine inspections (AQI) released last December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has published a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document on its website to help importers better understand the new fee structure.
Part of the new structure includes a fee for having APHIS personnel oversee phytosanitary treatments conducted on imported flowers and data analysis to confirm the effectiveness of the treatment.
“Most important for certain SAF members is understanding the treatment monitoring user fee,” said Drew Gruenburg, the Society of American Florists’ chief operating officer, who oversees the group’s government relations. “According to the FAQ, the forms of treatment covered by the fee include fumigations and cold treatments monitored by APHIS that are generally conducted at U.S. ports of entry or onboard ships while they are traveling to the U.S.”
The fee does not apply to treatments conducted by an exporting country or treatments applied to U.S. exports.
The new fee is charged on a per treatment basis per enclosure, container, tarp or chamber. The fee structure, shown below, began on December 28, 2015, and is being phased in over five years.
being phased in over five years.
First Year
$47.00
Second Year
$95.00
Third Year
$142.00
Fourth Year
$190.00
Fifth Year
$237.00
Read more about the AQI user fee.
