Effective Saturday, December 28th, 2019, the USDA Inspections Charge for importing cold treatment cargo in the United States will increase from $190USD to $237 USD, per container.

On October 23rd, 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published a final rule in the Federal Register to recoup the costs of conducting agricultural quarantine inspections (AQI) at U.S. ports of entry. Beginning December 28, 2015, this USDA Inspection Charge for monitoring and confirming phytosanitary treatments of imports was applied to carriers who transport cold treatment cargo.
The cost of this inspection is passed down from Maersk to importers of cold treatment cargo into the United States, in the form of a “USDA Inspections Charge” or UIC. Please note that these fees are imposed by the U.S. Government and not a Sealand surcharge.
The fees for AQI treatment services from the USDA will be adjusted over the next 4 years as follows (please note: these fees are per reading only):
First Year (12/28/2015): $47.00
Second Year (12/28/2016): $95.00
Third Year (12/28/2017): $142.00
Fourth Year (12/28/2018): $190.00
Fifth Year (12/28/2019): $237.00 (as announced in this advisory)