The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced the 2018 fees they will charge for voluntary grading, inspection, certification, auditing, and laboratory services for agricultural commodities including meat and poultry, eggs, fruit and vegetables, dairy products, cotton and tobacco.
This year most of the AMS user fee rates will remain unchanged, but there will be increases for meat, poultry, and egg grading; and in the hourly rate for AMS’s Laboratory Approval Service.
The 2018 regular, overtime, holiday, and laboratory service rates will be applied at the beginning of the crop year, fiscal year, or as required by law, depending on the product. The effective dates of their new fees vary, either July 1, 2018, August 1, 2018, or October 1, 2018.
Most fees are charged on a per-hour rate, but in some instances based on the equivalent per-unit cost.
AMS collects these fees to recover their costs in inspection, grading, certification or auditing services.
If you have any questions regarding the fees AMS will be charging for 2018, Livingston can help! Please contact either your Livingston account manager or our U.S. Regulatory Affairs group at usregaffairs@livingstonintl.com.