On May 7, 2024, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced a final rule in the Federal Register, amending user fee regulations under the Agricultural Quarantine and Inspection (AQI) program. These changes, which impact various sectors, officially took effect on October 1st, 2024.
However, a key component of the rule—removing the exemption from the commercial aircraft user fee for small commercial passenger aircraft—was originally set to take effect on April 1st, 2025. In a recent update, APHIS has now postponed this change by 60 days, pushing the new effective date to June 2nd, 2025.
What This Means
- Small commercial passenger aircraft will continue to benefit from the existing user fee exemption for an additional two months.
- This postponement allows additional time for stakeholders to adjust to the regulatory shift and any associated cost implications.
- The broader AQI user fee amendments that took effect on October 1st, 2024, remain unchanged.
