The U.S. Department of Agriculture will not raise the fees charged to international airline passengers and commercial carriers for agriculture inspection ­— at least not yet.

The airline industry vigorously opposed the increases from $5 to $5.50 per passenger and $70.75 to $78 per aircraft for each international arrival, and both the U.S. Air Transport Association and IATA wrote letters to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asking him to withdraw the proposal (DAILY, Sept. 29). At that point, the department responded by delaying the increase by a month, until Nov. 1, addressing industry concerns about the short notice but not about the increase itself (DAILY, Oct. 1).

In a press release yesterday, however, the department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said it has decided to withdraw the proposal entirely, including its increases for vessels, trucks and rail.

APHIS originally said the increase was needed to make up for a potential $32 million funding shortfall in fiscal year 2010 created by the economy-driven decline in passenger volumes, and to partially replenish its reserve fund. But APHIS said yesterday that “after considering comments received at two stakeholder listening sessions and through other communications, APHIS has decided to further assess the need for adjusting the fees and to withdraw the interim rule.”

APHIS said the withdrawal notice will be published in the Federal Register Nov. 4.

Airline industry groups were pleased, but not satisfied. They plan to continue their argument that airlines and their passengers are bearing a disproportionate load of the the program’s costs.

“While the Department of Agriculture retains most of the revenue collected through this program, about 95% of the inspections of airlines are carried out by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which imposes its own set of inspection fees,” IATA complained. “IATA estimates that 80% to 90% of the total cost base for Department of Agriculture APHIS inspections is already being paid for by aviation, while the large majority of the inspections are for road transport, railways and marine.”

ATA President and CEO James May said he hopes that “any future consideration of such a change will be done in consultation with the airlines, who question the need for another fee increase.”