GIPSA INCREASES COMMODITY AND RICE INSPECTION FEES

GIPSA INCREASES COMMODITY AND RICE INSPECTION FEES    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration will increase its inspection fees for exported rice and graded and processed commodities by 3.7 percent, starting May 4.
   GIPSA said its existing rice inspection program will not generate sufficient revenue to cover its operations costs. In fiscal 2000, operating costs of the rice program were about $4 million with revenue of about $4.8 million. The $800,000 net revenue is below the agency’s desired three-month reserve of about $1 million.
   “This fee increase will collect an estimated $155,500 in additional revenues in the rice program based on the projected fiscal year 2001 work volume of 3.9 million metric tons,” GIPSA said. About 550 rice shippers, mostly located in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, will be affected by the fee increase.
   The graded commodity market includes shippers of beans, peas and lentils, while the processed commodity market includes shippers of wheat flour, soybean meal, vegetable oil and corn meal. In fiscal 2000, operating costs for GIPSA’s commodity inspection service were about $5.2 million with revenue of about $5.4 million. GIPSA said it has already experienced negative revenue from commodity inspection fees with the elimination of vessel loading inspections by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency late last year.
   GIPSA estimates that about 156 commodity shippers, mostly located in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest, will be affected by the 3.7-percent inspection fee increase.
   But the agency said that for both rice and commodity shippers “the increase will not be excessive and should not significantly affect those entities.”
   GIPSA’s Federal Grain Inspection has also proposed increasing its inspection and weighing services fee by 6.1 percent to cover its rising operations costs. The agency expects the fee increase to generate about $575,000 in additional revenue, based on a projected workload of 82 million metric tons.
   Thirty-seven export facilities, owned and managed by large multinational grain shippers, will be affected by the fee increase. Under the U.S. Grain Standards Act, all grain must be inspected and weighed by GIPSA before it leaves the country.