February 21, 2012

The US government has released its budget proposal for the fiscal year of 2013, which will propose user fees for government-sanctioned inspection programmes within poultry processors.

The administration is proposing US$266 million in user fees for its federal budget of 2013, which is more than 91% of increase over the estimated 2012 amount of US$139 million.

User fees specific to USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) are estimated to total US$162 million for 2013 through existing user fees and trust fund activities for providing overtime, holiday and voluntary inspection services.

Since poultry inspection is a mandatory federal programme which benefits public health, the National Chicken Council (NCC) has long contended that it should be funded by the federal government, not through user fees.

"These food safety taxes, which have been justly rejected by Congress time and time again, will be charged directly to the meat and poultry sector who will be forced to pass this additional cost onto tax-paying consumers," said Tom Super, NCC's vice president of communications. "NCC urges Congress to once again reject these fees that will put further strains on consumers' food budgets and will create an additional burden on chicken companies at a time when the industry is attempting to recover from one of the worst financial years in history."

Under the administration's budget proposal for USDA, FSIS discretionary funding would receive a net decrease of more than US$8 million, with a funding level of US$996 million. The administration noted this budget would provide the full amount necessary to meet regulatory responsibilities, which reflects implementation of a modernised poultry inspection system in 2013.

Total budget authority for the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) is requested at US$90 million, of which US$50 million is from existing grain inspection and weighing user fees.

About US$22 million of the discretionary appropriation request is directed toward the Packers and Stockyards Program. Separately, GIPSA is once again requesting legislative authority to collect a licensing fee on entities regulated under the Packers and Stockyards Act. The 2013 Budget requests an increase of about US$1.2 million to facilitate compliance with the Packers and Stockyards Act.