User-Fee Financing of USDA Meat and Poultry Inspection

James McDonald, Fred Kuchler, Jean Buzby, Fitzroy Lee, and Lorna Aldrich

Agricultural Economics Report No. (AER775) 44 pp, March 1999

USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) finances about 13.5 percent of its budget outlays through user fees for overtime and unscheduled meat and poultry inspections. This report surveys the application of user-fees for financing meat and poultry inspection programs in other countries; reviews user-fee systems in other Federal agencies, particularly those with food and agricultural missions or regulatory responsibilities; and discusses the relevant economics literature on the use and design of user fees. Finally, the report suggests several elements that should underlie the structure of user fees for meat and poultry inspection, should such a program be introduced.

Keywords: user fees, meat inspection, public finance, Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)

In this report ...

Chapters are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

• Frontmatter (Abstract, Table of Contents, List of Tables and Figures, Summary), 51 Kb
• Introduction, 41 Kb
• Meat and Poultry Inspection User Fees in Other Countries, 31 Kb
• User Fees in Federal Agencies, 77 Kb
• Economic Analysis and User Fee, 51 Kb
• Options for FSIS, 40 Kb
• References, 42 Kb
• Appendix 1: Glossary of Abbreviations, 15 Kb
• Appendix 2: Individual Country Experiences with User Fees, 83 Kb

• Entire Report, 247 Kb

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Updated date: March 1, 1999