Yes, I think you're right. It does seem arbitrary at times. There is a willingness to pay for services that add value. If I'm either a farmer or a packer and I need something done, and I need the government to do it because the government has a certain authority such as certifying that I have raised my cattle according to European standards, I'm glad to pay that cost.
When it's a cost of complying with a regulation that I have to comply with, but I now have to have somebody.... They have to come, and I now have to pay for that. I don't have any choice. I have the cost of complying with the regulation, which I may certainly agree with, but now I have to pay for that as well.
I think that's the delineation point. When a regulation is in effect, and it's a good, valid, risk-based regulation that has scientific merit and it's in place to keep animals and the public safe, then I think it's the role of the taxpayer to pay for that regulatory oversight.