The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced the 2019 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 more than half of the AMS user fee rates will remain unchanged or will decrease, but increases are necessary for some fees to cover costs. Audit fees will be adjusted to be the same for all commodities, for consistency.
The 2019 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, 2019, August 1, 2019, or October 1, 2019.
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 2019, Livingston can help! Please contact either your Livingston account manager or our U.S. Regulatory Affairs group at usregaffairs@livingstonintl.com