2026-08399: 2026/2027 Rates Charged for AMS Services

Summary

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS or the Agency) is announcing the 2026/2027 rates it will charge for voluntary grading, inspection, certification, auditing, and laboratory services for a variety of agricultural commodities including meat and poultry, fruits and vegetables, eggs, dairy products, rice, and cotton and tobacco. The 2026/2027 regular, overtime, holiday, and laboratory services rates will be applied at the beginning of the crop year, fiscal year, or as required by law depending on the commodity. Other starting dates are added to this notice based on cotton industry practices. This action establishes the rates for user-funded programs based on costs incurred by AMS. This year, cost-based analyses indicated the need to increase certain user fee rates when current rates are insufficient to cover the costs of providing the service. While cost-saving measures have and will continue to be implemented, user fee rate increases are necessary to offset rising operational costs. In cases where current rates are sufficient to cover the costs of providing the service, user fee rates remain unchanged. Furthermore, AMS is announcing the fees it will charge warehouse operators for voluntary services associated with the administration of the United States Warehouse Act, including the license action fees, service license fees, inspection fees, and annual user fees for warehouse services for fiscal year 2027, which begins October 1, 2026; these fees remain unchanged from last year.

The agency’s own summary, as published.