Docket Number: AMS-AMS-22-0018
Effective Date: June 15, 2022
Summary
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is announcing the 2022/2023 rates it will charge for voluntary grading, inspection, certification, auditing, and laboratory services for a variety of agricultural commodities including meat and poultry, fruits and vegetables, eggs, dairy products, rice, and cotton and tobacco. The 2022/2023 regular, overtime, holiday, and laboratory services rates will be applied at the beginning of the crop year, fiscal year or as required by law depending on the commodity. Other starting dates are added to this notice based on cotton industry practices. This action establishes the rates for user-funded programs based on costs incurred by AMS. This year, cost-based analyses indicated the need to increase user fee rates in certain cases where current rates are insufficient to cover the costs of providing the service. While cost-saving measures have and will continue to be implemented, user fee rate increases are necessary to offset rising operational costs. In cases where current rates are sufficient to cover the costs of providing the service, user fee rates remain unchanged.
Contact
Melissa Bailey, Associate Administrator, AMS, USDA, Room 2036-S, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20250; telephone (202) 205-9356, or email melissa.bailey@usda.gov.
Supporting Documents