Fees Assessed by the Service

The Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS), of the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA), is amending the regulation regarding fees assessed to delegated States and designated official agencies, hereafter known as official agencies, authorized by GIPSA to provide official inspection and weighing services to the U.S. grain industry. The fee adjustment is necessary to collect sufficient revenue to cover the current and future cost of supervising the performance of the official agencies. Current supervision fees are charged to official agencies on a unit basis and represent an average rate of approximately 0.8 cent per metric ton of grain inspected or weighed by the official agencies. The final supervision fee increases the rate to a 1.1 cents per metric ton charge. Official agencies include the cost of GIPSA's supervision fee as part of the fee they charge their customers for grain services. The current average cost for services provided by official agencies is 21 cents per metric ton. Increasing the supervision fee by approximately 0.3 cent per metric ton will minimally increase the total cost of inspection and weighing services to the grain industry.