Washington, DC, USA
January 2024
US OECD Seed Schemes Program – 2024 Assessment Fees
Implementation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Seed Schemes in the United States is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS). Under USDA AMS, the Seed Regulatory & Testing Division (SRTD) serves as the National Designated Authority (NDA) for the program, which helps U.S. seed producers export seed to many international destinations.
Administration of the U.S. OECD Seed Schemes program is funded by assessment fees, which SRTD collects quarterly from State Seed Certifying Agencies (SCAs). Assessment fees are necessary to cover program costs because the program is not funded by Congress through the federal budget. USDA bases the fees on the quantity of seed certified under the program, and SCAs charge seed companies accordingly and collect the fee alongside the other charges associated with inspections and testing.
Current assessment fee rates are 33 cents per hundredweight (cwt) for corn and 22 cents per hundredweight for all other crop species, which will remain through June 30, 2024.
Due to rising costs associated with implementing the program, it is necessary to implement a larger increase in assessment fees for 2024. The new fee structure is intended to better reflect relative value of species certified through the scheme as well as the volumes of seed of various species certified under the US OECD Seed Schemes program.
Effective July 1, 2024, assessment fees will be structured as follows:
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Crop or Crop Category
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Cents/Hundredweight (cwt)
|
|
Corn
|
42
|
|
Soybean, Cotton, Sunflower, Cereals
|
34
|
|
All other species and mixtures
|
32
|
SRTD will continue to monitor program costs to effectively manage the OECD Seed Schemes program on behalf of the U.S. seed industry. Questions regarding the new fee schedule, or program policies and procedures, may be addressed to the program manager, Dr. Steve Malone at stephen.malone@usda.gov or by phone at 980-308-4617 (mobile) or 704-810-8888.
Information on the United States’ OECD Seed Schemes program can be found at: https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/fsa/oecd-schemes.
Topics
Species
