COMPANION LAWSUITS ARE FILED TO CONTEST USDA APHIS FEES
April 11, 2018
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has agreed to stay a lawsuit brought by a host of international airlines against the government’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) pending the outcome of a similar case currently before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The first lawsuit was filed by Airlines for America (A4A) and IATA against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its associated department, APHIS, regarding the collection of Agricultural Quarantine and Inspection (AQI) fees. The case was initially filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in May 2016. The lawsuit focuses on the significant increase of AQI aircraft inspection fees in December 2015, from $70.75 per arriving international flight to $225.
The plaintiffs, which include A4A and IATA, seek injunctive relief to prohibit USDA APHIS from collecting the new, higher AQI Fee. They allege that the USDA raised the AQI fee without considering associated costs which is a requirement under U.S. law. Further, the plaintiffs allege that the combination of USDA inspection fees that are (1) assessed on a per-passenger ticket basis and (2) assessed on arriving international aircraft amount to an illegal “double charge” under U.S. law.
Now, plaintiffs’ counsel has assembled a group of over 40 carriers and has filed a companion case invoking a federal law called the Tucker Act in the U.S. Court for Federal Claims. The Tucker Act allows for the recovery of any federal tax alleged to have been erroneously or illegally assessed or collected, or any penalty claimed to have been collected without authority or any sum alleged to have been excessive or in any manner wrongfully collected under the federal tax laws. Because IATA and A4A do not have standing to file a Tucker Act claim, plaintiffs’ counsel coordinated a group of affected airlines to file the companion suit in an effort to have the $225 aircraft inspection fee declared invalid and to permanently enjoin the USDA from collecting the fee. It is also possible that a prevailing action would entitle participating airlines to a full or partial refund of the AQI fees paid to date. The plaintiffs currently claim that airlines are owed more than $50,000,000 in fees from 2012 to the present.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr (esahr@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6622) or Drew Derco (dderco@eckertseamans.com, 202-659-6665).
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