FDAImports.com believes the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) plan to charge food importers US$224 an hour for re-examining produce suspected of a food safety violation "amounts to a hidden food tax on American consumers".
The firm is concerned that from October the FDA will start invoicing importers – many of who are small businesses – for thousands of dollars.
Because food importers operate within smaller price margins than those trading other commodities, FDAImports.com thinks US consumers will also be affected as firms try to pass on the new expenses.
Benjamin England, founder and CEO of the firm of consultants and attorneys specialising in international trade, also warned small businesses that any appeal against the fees would "likely fall on deaf ears considering the FDA will have done the work already, created the invoice and mailed it to the importer or foreign manufacturer, and will be expecting (even salivating over) collection of the fee".
England is organising a coalition of food manufacturers and importers to oppose the fees with a unified voice.
