This APHIS fee applies to all imports into the United States, and traditionally Canada has been exempt from that fee because of the special relationship that we have with the United States. When the interim rule was published in the U.S., this was a key concern for many of our members, and not just members who are involved in the food industry and the agricultural food industry. It's important to realize that the United States is proposing to impose this fee on all commercial vehicles going into the United States, as well as on air passengers. That was one of the concerns--that it's across the board, that it will impact all imports going into the United States and all modes of transportation, and not just food and agricultural exports into the United States.
The other concern associated with the fee was the potential delays at the border, the delays that might be associated with collecting the fee. The fee is, I think, $5.25 per vehicle, so they were envisioning border personnel on the U.S. border having to make change. For the majority of carriers that would not be an issue because they could pay the fee upfront and display a decal on their vehicle and so on, but certainly for a percentage of exports that was a concern. So it was collection of the fee. Also, it indicated that the United States planned to increase inspections of shipments going into the United States.
There are a couple of concerns here. First of all, is this really the best way for the United States to be addressing their concerns? The U.S. has indicated that one of the reasons they decided to impose this fee and to increase inspections coming in from Canada is that they perceived that the risk had increased of goods being transshipped from Canada into the United States. There were instances of Spanish oranges going into the United States marked “Made in Canada”, so they perceived that there was a greater risk from Canada. Actually, there were a lot of responses from Canada from different associations, including IE Canada, but there was also a submission made by the Canadian embassy that went through, in considerable detail, responding to all the various risks that had been raised by the United States. It was a fairly detailed letter, and if you haven't read it, I would suggest that you take a look at it. I think it's very helpful. Essentially the argument from the Canadian government and from Canadian industry was that there are better ways of dealing with these issues, of addressing the concerns of the United States, and that we should work together cooperatively.
On a broader level, if we look at the expenditures made by government, as well as industry, we've been spending billions of dollars to try to facilitate trade between Canada and the United States and to ease the burden at the border. It's an uphill battle. As I mentioned earlier, the sense is that the border is actually becoming thicker, rather than thinner. We're investing all of this effort and resources in trying to improve our infrastructure and to improve customs processes at the border, and then suddenly a separate agency comes in with a new fee and an intention to increase inspections at the border, which clearly undermines this overall goal that we have of trying to facilitate movement of goods between Canada and the United States. I think it's an indication that we have to be constantly vigilant in terms of policies and procedures that are adopted in the United States that can hurt Canadian companies exporting into that market.