Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which is tasked with preventing the importation of disease and insects, wants to impose a fee for mandatory fumigating of produce.
• At issue are fruits and vegetables coming from places the U.S. says that there is a high risk produce contains insects like the Mediterranean fruit fly.
• APHIS wants to begin charging $375 per treatment for a number of forms of fumigation -- whether conducted in transit or at the port of entry. 

Dive Insight:

Certainly the food industry would have benefited if APHIS had been able to keep out the Asian citrus psyllid or porcine epidemic diarrhea virus.

Under the proposed rule, it appears that the fee is quite reasonable for a giant importer who moves shiploads of cargo. But a small-time importer moving in a pallet or two of fruit at a time would find profits shrinking under the weight of the fumigation fee.

Industry groups are urging APHIS to hold off on the fees and to meet with importers to find a better alternative.