Proposed inspection fee increase rattles U.S. grain shippers

Proposed inspection fee increase rattles U.S. grain shippers    Three large U.S. grain lobby groups want the federal government’s grain inspection and weighing agency to take a page from the private sector when it comes to controlling personnel costs, instead of raising user fees for the industry.
   “At a time when the private sector is cutting benefits for its workers to remain competitive, it is troubling that the public sector has not taken similar actions, particularly when the cost of government is borne directly by the industry,” said the National Grain and Feed Association, North American Export Grain Association, and Grain Elevator and Processing Society in a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA).
   GIPSA recently proposed to increase its hourly inspection rates for official grain inspection services to cover increased federal employee benefit costs, longevity pay and locality pay, which have risen nearly 36 percent during the past few years.
   “GIPSA should not rely on fee increases to offset rising employee benefit costs or administrative costs,” the groups said. “Rather, the agency must continue to pursue cost-cutting, increased productivity and reconfigure its work force to mitigate price increases, just as the industry it serves is required to do to stay in business.”
   The grain groups request further clarification of GIPSA’s proposal to change the method used to assess fees to state agencies authorized to perform official inspection and weighing services to reflect the agency’s oversight costs.
   The grain groups do not oppose some proposed GIPSA fee changes. These include:
   * Elimination of the current six-level administrative tonnage fee and replace it with an administrative tonnage fee specific to each field office that reflects local overhead costs plus a uniform national administrative tonnage fee of 4.4 cents per ton;
   * Elimination of the provisions for the three- and six-month official grain inspection and weighing contracts, since demand has been limited;
   * Increasing hourly fees for special weighing services by about 30 percent more than non-contract hourly rate;
   * Implementation of a $500-per-facility usage fee when the GIPSA test car is used to check track scales;
   * And increasing unit fees for additional services carried out in a GIPSA on-site laboratory at the facility of the party requesting the service.