General fund reductions to stress inspection programs?

One Fresh Talk reader passes on this letter about fruit and vegetable inspection services in Michigan. The topic: shrinking general funds availability in the state will translate to higher inspection fees. This is an issue that transcends any one state, I believe. Here is the letter:


Jan. 16, 2009
Fruit and Vegetable Partners:
Subject: Fruit and Vegetable Grading Fees
As you are aware from previous communications the Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division has sustained general fund reductions over the past several years. These general fund revenues have been critical to keeping user fees down and sustaining the Fruit and Vegetable Inspection Programs. With the loss of these general funds we have looked at all of our inspection programs and adjusted user fees for those that were important to continue.
Many of you attended a meeting for processors on October 27, 2008 or a meeting for shipping point inspection clients on November 20, 2008, where we shared information on our costs and potential revenue needs. I gathered additional information and attempted to answer any questions you had regarding the future of these inspection programs. We appreciate your participation in these sessions.
After a review of all the information and careful consideration we have arrived at a set of revised fee rates. These rates will take effect on February 15, 2009. A schedule of fee rates is attached. In most areas these rates represent substantial increases. Again, these increases are driven by the loss of general fund revenue support but also by increasing costs and need to cover program costs by users as instructed by the authorizing statute.
For processors, we have offered to provide training, at your cost, in order for you to develop an “in-house” inspection program if that would meet your needs. That offer still stands.
As we concluded the informational sessions we agreed to host a conference call for each client group to provide an opportunity for comment. These conference call opportunities are as follows:
Process Inspection: 9:00am, Friday, January 23rd
Shipping Point Inspection: 10:30am, Friday, January 23rd
CONSTITUTION HALL
P.O. BOX 30017
LANSING, MICHIGAN 48909
www.michigan.gov
(517) 373-1104
Fruit and Vegetable Partners
January 16, 2009
Page 2
Conference Call Number: 877-873-8018 (Call in and follow the prompts)
Access Code: 3149559
Our intent with these conference calls is to answer any questions you may have regarding these fee rates.
I recognize that these fee increases are not pleasant news. We have diligently implemented efficiencies in the way we offer inspection services, and have worked to keep these rates as low as possible and yet continue to offer our grading services.
I appreciate your understanding in this matter.
Sincerely,
Kenneth J. Rauscher, Director
Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division
Michigan Department of Agriculture

Inspector gone bad

Did you hear about the case of the agricultural inspector who was busted at the border? Big Apple posted about it on Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group. It's an ugly tale, this from a press release earlier this month:

( LAREDO, Texas) - A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) employee has pleaded guilty to illegally permitting infested agricultural products to enter the United States from Mexico, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today. He will be sentenced Sept. 3, 2008.
Jose Homero Reyes, 48, who worked as a USDA plant protection and quarantine officer, pleaded guilty to three counts of the superseding indictment. As part of the guilty plea, Reyes admitted that beginning in or about 2005, and continuing to April 15, 2008, he conspired with others to not properly perform fumigations, thereby permitting agricultural products infested with a plant pest to enter the United States.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agricultural inspectors are responsible for initially inspecting trucks carrying agricultural products into the United States via Laredo from Mexico. At or near the initial inspection, CBP agricultural inspectors send a sample of any agricultural product suspected of being infested with a plant pest to plant protection and quarantine for a final determination. If a determination is made that a truck entering the U.S. is carrying an agricultural product infested with a plant pest, the infested product must be fumigated before the truck is permitted to leave Laredo.
A plant protection and quarantine officer is required to be present during the fumigation, because the officer must make initial calculations regarding the level of gas needed to spray the agricultural product infested with a plant pest and subsequently advise the fumigation technician of the same prior to beginning the fumigation. Following this, the officer is required to submit a written report to the USDA documenting the fumigation results. The truck carrying the agricultural products is not permitted to leave Laredo until the plant protection and quarantine officer provides consent.
The fumigations normally occur after-hours, and the plant protection and quarantine officers are paid overtime for their work related to the fumigations. The overtime paid to the plant protection and quarantine officers as well as the cost for the company performing the fumigations are ultimately passed onto either the Mexican exporter or the owner of the agricultural goods.
As part of his guilty plea, Reyes admitted he provided consent to the freight forwarding company/customs broker, allowing the trucks carrying agricultural products infested with a plant pest to leave Laredo, knowing that the agricultural products were not properly fumigated. Reyes would also falsely claim overtime for hours he never worked in addition to submitting false written reports to the USDA falsely documenting the fumigation results.
Arturo Ramirez, 46, the owner of Ambush Exterminators, a pest control service located in Laredo, and Robert Perez, 35, who previously worked as a USDA plant protection and quarantine officer, are also charged in the superseding indictment. Ramirez previously pleaded guilty June 17, 2008. Perez is scheduled for trial Sept. 12, 2008. Rafael Edmundo Melo Jr., a fourth USDA plant protection and quarantine officer, was also originally charged by indictment in this case. The indictment against Melo was dismissed by the government after he committed suicide.
The guilty plea to conspiracy to permit agricultural products infested with a plant pest to enter the United States carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine upon conviction. Each of the guilty pleas to the substantive counts of permitting an infested agricultural product from entering the U.S. carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
The investigation leading to these guilty pleas was a joint investigation by the FBI’s Public Corruption Task Force and the USDA - Office of Inspector General. The Task Force includes the Laredo Police Department, Department of Homeland Security - Office of the Inspector General and CBP - Office of Internal Affairs. Special agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement also assisted in the operation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sam Sheldon and James Seaman.

TK: This prosecution may help push back corruption of this sort in the future, but the case is a disconcerting sign that the best science can be thwarted by the worst motives.