2017-19410. Assessment of Fees for Dairy Import Licenses for the 2018 Tariff-Rate Import Quota Year

AGENCY:

Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

This notice announces a fee of $300 to be charged for the 2018 tariff-rate quota (TRQ) year for each license issued to a person or firm by the Department of Agriculture authorizing the importation of certain dairy articles, which are subject to tariff-rate quotas set forth in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) of the United States.

DATES:

September 13, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Abdelsalam El-Farra, Dairy Import Licensing Program, Import Policies and Export Reporting Division, STOP 1021, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-1021 or telephone at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Dairy Tariff-Rate Quota Import Licensing Regulation promulgated by the Department of Agriculture and codified at 7 CFR 6.20-6.36 provides for the issuance of licenses to import certain dairy articles that are subject to TRQs set forth in the HTS. Those dairy articles may only be entered into the United States at the in-quota TRQ tariff-rates by or for the account of a person or firm to whom such licenses have been issued and only in accordance with the terms and conditions of the regulation.

Licenses are issued on a calendar year basis, and each license authorizes the license holder to import a specified quantity and type of dairy article from a specified country of origin. The use of such licenses is monitored by the Dairy Import Licensing Program, Import Policies and Export Reporting Division, Foreign Agricultural Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The regulation at 7 CFR 6.33(a) provides that a fee will be charged for each license issued to a person or firm by the Licensing Authority in order to defray the Department of Agriculture's costs of administering the licensing system under this regulation.

The regulation at 7 CFR 6.33(a) also provides that the Licensing Authority will announce the annual fee for each license and that such fee will be set out in a notice to be published in the Federal Register. Accordingly, this notice sets out the fee for the licenses to be issued for the 2018 calendar year.

Notice:

The total cost to the Department of Agriculture of administering the licensing system for 2018 has been estimated to be $749,300.00 and the estimated number of licenses expected to be issued is 2,500. Of the total cost, $479,200.00 represents staff and supervisory costs directly related to administering the licensing system, and $270,100.00 represents other miscellaneous costs, including travel, postage, publications, forms, and ADP system support.

Accordingly, notice is hereby given that the fee for each license issued to a person or firm for the 2018 calendar year, in accordance with 7 CFR 6.33, will be $300 per license.

Issued at Washington, DC the 7th day of September, 2017.

Ronald Lord,

Licensing Authority.