Process for Establishing Rates for Veterinary Services User Fees

We are revising the regulations concerning user fees that we charge for veterinary diagnostic services and for certain import- related and export-related services for live animals, animal products and byproducts, birds, germplasm, organisms, and vectors. We are removing the tables providing the individual fees from the regulations and posting them on an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service website. The regulations instead specify the methodology (formula) used to calculate the fees (including imputed costs), and the fees will be updated using a notice-based process. Replacing the current user fee listings with a standardized methodology will increase transparency in the process of setting fee rates, align the regulations with other Agency practices, and allow us to streamline processes and reduce the number of rules needed and thus the time necessary in order to update the fees.