US pest inspections faced a $325 million funding gap in 2011

In 2011, the United States spent $861 million inspecting travellers and cargo for agricultural pests, but fees collected left a shortfall of more than $325 million. The funding gap stemmed partly from federal laws restricting which passengers and transport operators could be charged, alongside weaknesses in fee collection and differences between agency costs and revenue. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the programme, jointly administered by the US Department of Agriculture and Customs and Border Protection, aims to intercept foreign agricultural pests and prevent prohibited materials from entering the country. Later reforms addressed some gaps, but legal restrictions remained.Why did US agricultural inspection fees fall short of costsThe GAO identified restrictions on the government’s fee-setting authority as one of the reasons for the shortfall. APHIS could not charge every person entering the United States, including pedestrians, under its authority. The agency was unable to recover the costs of those inspections by charging other parties. The report further identified commercial buses, private vessels and private aircraft as categories for which the exis...