Notice2026-02352
2026 Rate Changes for the Basetime, Overtime, Holiday, Laboratory Services, and Export Application Fees
Primary source
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Published
February 6, 2026
Issuing agencies
Agriculture DepartmentFood Safety and Inspection Service
Abstract
FSIS is announcing the 2026 rates it will charge meat, poultry, and egg products establishments, and importers and exporters for providing voluntary, overtime, and holiday inspection and identification, certification, laboratory services, and export application fees. Most rates for 2026 will be the same as for 2025. FSIS is decreasing the rate for laboratory services.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 25 (Friday, February 6, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 25 (Friday, February 6, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5421-5423]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-02352]
[[Page 5421]]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Food Safety and Inspection Service
[Docket No. FSIS-2025-0211]
2026 Rate Changes for the Basetime, Overtime, Holiday, Laboratory
Services, and Export Application Fees
AGENCY: Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: FSIS is announcing the 2026 rates it will charge meat,
poultry, and egg products establishments, and importers and exporters
for providing voluntary, overtime, and holiday inspection and
identification, certification, laboratory services, and export
application fees. Most rates for 2026 will be the same as for 2025.
FSIS is decreasing the rate for laboratory services.
DATES: FSIS will continue to charge the 2025 rates through calendar
year 2026, except for laboratory services, which were reduced starting
January 11, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact
Martina Simms, Director, Budget Division, Office of the Chief Financial
Officer; Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#aee3cfdcdac7c0cf80fdc7c3c3ddeedbddcacf80c9c1d8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fdb09c8f8994939cd3ae9490908ebd888e999cd39a928b">[email protected]</span></a>, Telephone:(202) 937-4201.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA)(21 U.S.C. 695) and the
Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA)(21 U.S.C. 468), the cost of
inspection--except the cost of overtime and holiday pay pursuant to 7
U.S.C. 2219a--is borne by the United States. Section 2219a gives the
Secretary discretion to accept reimbursement for any sums paid for
overtime and holiday work. The statutes do not, however, require the
Secretary to seek full reimbursement for such sums. Under the Egg
Products Inspection Act (EPIA)(21 U.S.C. 1053), the Secretary has
discretion with respect to the rates charged for overtime and holiday
pay.
Reimbursement rates are calculated annually in accordance with FSIS
regulations. On April 12, 2011, FSIS published a final rule amending
its regulations to establish formulas for calculating the rates it
charges meat, poultry, and egg products establishments and importers
and exporters for providing voluntary, overtime, and holiday inspection
and identification, certification, and laboratory services (76 FR
20220). These formulas rely on the previous fiscal year actuals for
salaries, hours worked, benefits, travel and operating costs, overhead,
and bad debt allowance. In the final rule, FSIS stated that it would
use the formulas to calculate the annual rates, publish the rates in
Federal Register notices prior to the start of each calendar year, and
apply the rates on the first FSIS pay period at the beginning of the
calendar year.
FSIS has determined that the methodology used to determine the
costs for providing voluntary, overtime, and holiday inspection and
identification, certification services, and export application fees may
no longer accurately reflect the Agency's current cost structure. FSIS
has not reevaluated most of its formulas for calculating rate changes
since 2009.\1\ Under the existing formulas, most rates for fiscal year
2026 would materially increase, even though costs associated with
providing these services have not.
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\1\ The one exception is the export application rate change
methodology, which was updated on June 29, 2016 (81 FR 42225).
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As discussed, FSIS' acceptance of the reimbursement rate is
optional under the FMIA and PPIA (``The Secretary of agriculture may .
. . accept from the establishment reimbursement . . .''), and it is
authorized for ``any'' sums, not ``all'' sums, paid by the Secretary (7
U.S.C. 2219a(a)(2)). In addition, the EPIA provides the Secretary with
discretion regarding the rates charged for overtime and holiday pay.
Given the 2026 rates calculated under the existing formula may not
accurately reflect FSIS' current cost structure, FSIS will exercise its
discretion under the FMIA, PPIA, and EPIA and accept reimbursement at
the 2025 rates for voluntary, overtime, and holiday inspection and
identification, certification services and export fee applications
while the Agency undertakes a comprehensive review of the methodology
(89 FR 106417, December 30, 2024). This will allow FSIS to ensure that
future rates reflect the true cost of the services delivered and
provide time to verify whether current formulas remain accurate or need
updates. FSIS is reducing the laboratory services fee for 2026 in
accordance with its regulations (9 CFR 391.4).
2026 Calculations and Increased Rates
The following table lists the 2025 rates and calculated 2026 rates,
by type of service:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Calculated 2026
Service 2025 Rate rate (not
implemented)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basetime.............................. $73.04 $78.80
Overtime.............................. 89.68 97.04
Holiday............................... 106.32 115.28
Export Application.................... * 4.83 * 5.02
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* Per application.
Basetime, Overtime, and Holiday Fees
FSIS calculated the basetime, overtime, and holiday rates for 2026
but will continue to charge the 2025 rates for these services because
the 2026 calculations may not accurately reflect the Agency's current
cost structure. In the 2026 formula for the basetime, overtime, and
holiday fees, the variable representing the ``[Office of Field
Operations] previous fiscal year's regular hours'' decreased compared
to the previous year, likely due to staffing adjustments and efficiency
improvements. This reduction may have artificially increased the
projected 2026 rates. The 2025 rates will cover FSIS costs in fiscal
year 2026; therefore, increasing the rates based on the current
formulas in the regulations would unnecessarily burden industry.
The calculations below demonstrate that the rates charged for these
services would have increased if the Agency chose to utilize the 2026
formulas.
Basetime Rate = The quotient of dividing the Office of Field
Operations (OFO) inspection program personnel's previous fiscal year's
regular direct pay
[[Page 5422]]
by the previous fiscal year's regular hours, plus the quotient
multiplied by the calendar year's percentage of cost-of-living
increase, plus the benefits rate, plus the travel and operating rate,
plus the overhead rate, plus the allowance for bad debt rate.
The calculation for the 2026 basetime rate per hour per program
employee is:
[FY 2025 OFO Regular Direct Pay divided by the previous fiscal
year's Regular Hours ($504,606,328/13,974,759)] = $36.11 + ($36.11 *
1.0% (calendar year 2026 Cost of Living Increase)) = $36.47 + $14.12
(benefits rate) + $2.74 (travel and operating rate) + $25.49 (overhead
rate) + $0.00 (bad debt allowance rate) = $78.82, rounded down to
$78.80, so that it is divisible by 4.
Overtime Rate = The quotient of dividing the Office of Field
Operations (OFO) inspection program personnel's previous fiscal year's
regular direct pay by the previous fiscal year's regular hours, plus
that quotient multiplied by the calendar year's percentage of cost-of-
living increase, multiplied by 1.5 (for overtime), plus the benefits
rate, plus the travel and operating rate, plus the overhead rate, plus
the allowance for bad debt rate.
The calculation for the 2026 overtime rate per hour per program
employee is:
[FY 2025 OFO Regular Direct Pay divided by previous fiscal year's
Regular Hours ($504,606,328/13,974,759)] = $36.11 + ($36.11 * 1.0%
(calendar year 2026 Cost of Living Increase)) = $36.47 * 1.5 = $54.70 +
$14.12 (benefits rate) + $2.74 (travel and operating rate) +
$25.49(overhead rate) + $0.00 (bad debt allowance rate) = $97.05,
rounded down to $97.04, so that it is divisible by 4.
Holiday Rate = The quotient of dividing the Office of Field
Operations (OFO) inspection program personnel's previous fiscal year's
regular direct pay by the previous fiscal year's regular hours, plus
that quotient multiplied by the calendar year's percentage of cost-of-
living increase, multiplied by 2 (for holiday pay), plus the benefits
rate, plus the travel and operating rate, plus the overhead rate, plus
the allowance for bad debt rate.
The calculation for the 2026 holiday rate per hour per program
employee calculation is:
[FY 2025 OFO Regular Direct Pay divided by previous fiscal year's
Regular Hours ($504,606,328/13,974,759)] = $36.11 + ($36.11 * 1.0%
(calendar year 2026 Cost of Living Increase)) = $36.47 * 2 = $72.94 +
$14.12 (benefits rate) + $2.74 (travel and operating rate) +
$25.49(overhead rate) + $0.00 (bad debt allowance rate)= $115.29,
rounded down to $115.28, so that it is divisible by 4.
2026 Electronic Export Application Fee
FSIS calculated the export application rate for 2026 but will
continue to charge the 2025 rate, because the 2026 increased fee is not
necessary to cover FSIS' costs associated with providing this service.
The increased fee for 2026 was driven by an increase in labor costs
mostly due to pay raises implemented in calendar year 2025 and an
increase in the Public Health Information System Export Module
maintenance contract. However, FSIS has determined that the 2025 fee
will cover the cost of the service delivered. Therefore, FSIS will not
raise the fee for fiscal year 2026.
As published in FSIS' final rule, Electronic Export Application and
Certification Charge; Flexibility in the Requirements for Export
Inspection Marks, Devices, and Certificates; Egg Products Export
Certification (81 FR 42225, June 29, 2016), the Electronic Export
Application Fee Formula is:
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN06FE26.000
FSIS stated in the 2016 final rule (81 FR 42225) and the 2017
Federal Register notice (82 FR 42056, September 6, 2017) that it would
update and recalculate the fee based on the best available estimates
for costs and number of applications. As of November 2024, a majority
of countries have been included in the export component. Therefore,
FSIS is able to accurately estimate the number of export applications
(the denominator in the formula) and update costs to include the
transition from eAuthentication to <a href="http://Login.gov">Login.gov</a>.
2026 Electronic Export Application Fee:
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN06FE26.001
Calculations for the Benefits, Travel and Operating, Overhead, and
Allowance for Bad Debt Rates
These rates are components of the basetime, overtime, holiday, and
laboratory services rates formulas.
Benefits Rate: The quotient of dividing the previous fiscal year's
direct benefits costs by the previous fiscal year's total hours
(regular, overtime, and holiday), plus that quotient multiplied by the
calendar year's percentage cost of living increase. Some examples of
direct benefits are health insurance, retirement, life insurance, and
Thrift Savings Plan basic and matching contributions.
[[Page 5423]]
The calculation for the 2026 benefits rate per hour per program
employee is:
[FY 2025 Direct Benefits/(Total Regular hours + Total Overtime
hours + Total Holiday hours) ($236,270,391/16,897,173)] = $13.98 +
($13.98 * 1.0% (calendar year 2026 Cost of Living Increase)) = $14.12.
Travel and Operating Rate: The quotient of dividing the previous
fiscal year's total direct travel and operating costs by the previous
fiscal year's total hours (regular, overtime, and holiday), plus that
quotient multiplied by the calendar year's percentage of inflation.
The calculation for the 2026 travel and operating rate per hour per
program employee is:
[FY 2025 Total Direct Travel and Operating Costs/(Total Regular
hours + Total Overtime hours + Total Holiday hours) ($45,247,802/
16,897,173)] = $2.68 + ($2.68 * 2.2% (2026 Inflation) = $2.74.
Overhead Rate: The quotient of dividing the previous fiscal year's
indirect costs plus the previous fiscal year's information technology
(IT) costs in the Public Health Data Communication Infrastructure
System Fund plus the provision for the operating balance less any
Greenbook costs (i.e., costs of USDA support services prorated to the
service component for which fees are charged) that are not related to
food inspection by the previous fiscal year's total hours (regular,
overtime, and holiday) worked across all funds, plus the quotient
multiplied by the calendar year's percentage of inflation.
The calculation for the 2026 overhead rate per hour per program
employee is:
[FY 2025 Total Overhead/(Total Regular hours + Total Overtime hours
+ Total Holiday hours) ($421,449,512/16,897,173)] = $24.94 + ($24.94 *
2.2% (2026 Inflation) = $25.49.
Allowance for Bad Debt Rate = Previous fiscal year's total
allowance for bad debt (for example, debt owed for overtime and holiday
inspection services that is not paid in full by establishments that
declare bankruptcy) divided by previous fiscal year's total hours
(regular, overtime, and holiday) worked.
The 2026 calculation for bad debt rate per hour per program
employee is:
[FY 2025 Total Bad Debt/(Total Regular hours + Total Overtime hours
+ Total Holiday hours) = ($49,485/16,897,173)] = $0.00.
2026 Laboratory Service Rate and Calculation
The 2026 laboratory service rate calculation accurately covers the
cost of this service. Unlike the basetime, overtime, and holiday
formulas, the formula used to the calculate the laboratory services
rate does not use the ``[Office of Field Operations] previous fiscal
year's regular hours'' variable which artificially increased the
basetime, overtime, and holiday rates. Instead, the laboratory fee rate
is calculated using the Office of Public Health Science's (OPHS)
previous fiscal year's regular hours (9 CFR 391.4). This variable,
unlike OFO work hours, did not significantly decrease from the previous
fiscal year and, as such, did not artificially inflate the 2026 rate.
The final rate has been rounded to make the amount divisible by the
quarter hour (15 minutes). Fifteen minutes is the minimum charge for
the services covered by this rate.
Laboratory Services Rate = The quotient of dividing the Office of
Public Health Science (OPHS) previous fiscal year's regular direct pay
by the OPHS previous fiscal year's regular hours, plus the quotient
multiplied by the calendar year's percentage cost of living increase,
plus the benefits rate, plus the travel and operating rate, plus the
overhead rate, plus the allowance for bad debt rate.
The calculation for the 2026 laboratory services rate per hour per
program employee is:
[FY 2025 OPHS Regular Direct Pay/OPHS Regular hours ($20,422,806/
408,851)] = $49.95 + ($49.95 * 1.0% (calendar year 2026 Cost of Living
Increase) = $50.45 + $14.12 (benefits rate) + $2.74 (travel and
operating rate) + $25.49(overhead rate) + $0.00 (bad debt allowance
rate) = $92.80, which is divisible by 4.
Additional Public Notification
Public awareness of all segments of rulemaking and policy
development is important. Consequently, FSIS will announce this Federal
Register publication on-line through the FSIS web page located at:
<a href="https://www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register">https://www.fsis.usda.gov/federal-register</a>.
FSIS will also announce and provide a link through the FSIS
Constituent Update, which is used to provide information regarding FSIS
policies, procedures, regulations, Federal Register notices, FSIS
public meetings, and other types of information that could affect or
would be of interest to our constituents and stakeholders. The
Constituent Update is available on the FSIS web page. Through the web
page, FSIS is able to provide information to a much broader, more
diverse audience. In addition, FSIS offers an email subscription
service which provides automatic and customized access to selected food
safety news and information. This service is available at: <a href="https://www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe">https://www.fsis.usda.gov/subscribe</a>. Options range from recalls to export
information, regulations, directives, and notices. Customers can add or
delete subscriptions themselves and have the option to password protect
their accounts.
USDA Non-Discrimination Statement
In accordance with Federal civil rights law and USDA civil rights
regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and
employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA
programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color,
national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, marital status,
family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance
program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil
rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA
(not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing
deadlines vary by program or incident.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of
communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the State or
local Agency that administers the program or contact USDA through the
Telecommunications Relay Service at 711 (voice and TTY). Additionally,
program information may be made available in languages other than
English.
To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA
Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to
File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write
a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the
information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint
form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA
by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Mail Stop
9410, Washington, DC 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#87f7f5e8e0f5e6eaa9eee9f3e6ece2c7f2f4e3e6a9e0e8f1"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f9898b969e8b9894d790978d98929cb98c8a9d98d79e968f">[email protected]</span></a>.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.
Done at Washington, DC.
Justin Ransom,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2026-02352 Filed 2-5-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-DM-P
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