ANNOUNCEMENT 28 Dec 2015
In December 2015, the government of the United States of America announced a change in trade-relevant health safety standards.NUMBER OF INTERVENTIONS
1
Import-related non-tariff measure, nes
In a final rule that was effective December 28, 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) raised the user fees for the Agricultural Quarantine Inspection (AQI) program. The AQI program is jointly administered by APHIS and the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection to keep foreign agricultural pests that could affect U.S. agriculture, trade and commerce out of the United States.
According to APHIS, the AQI user fees have not been updated to reflect the real cost of services in over a decade and the program has been operating at a deficit.APHIS made the following changes:
The Canadian Minister of International Trade Ed Fast opposed the increased fees, stating that they "would impose disproportionate costs on Canadian exporters and commercial transporters, with detrimental effects on our cross-border trade and ultimately on the prosperity of both countries."
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