WASHINGTON — Fruit importers are protesting a government proposal to hike agricultural quarantine and inspection service fees — the first in nearly a decade — they say will have severe financial repercussions throughout the market.

In April, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant & Health Inspection Service proposed new user fees to defray the cost of inspection services at U.S. ports of entry to prevent pests and diseases. At the same time, APHIS proposed changes to the hourly rates charged for overtime work. Comments are due today.

But the industry says the fee hike, particularly a $375 fee for fumigation oversight, misses the mark.

“With the suggested increase in fees, businesses will be forced to alter their cost margins and potentially lay off employees in order to accommodate the fees,” Frank Ramos, president and chief executive officer of the Perishable Specialist Inc., warned in a letter to APHIS. “The proposed $375 fumigation fee could potentially inflate the total price-per-box rate of commodities by up to 200 percent,” which would have a severe effect on perishables imported through south Florida.

Ramos said the fees will hit hardest on commodities such as asparagus, blueberries and yams among others that must fumigate as a condition of treatment.

New Jersey-based Capespan North America LLC agrees, insisting the fees have the potential to create an inflationary effect on fresh fruit products and force fruit exporters to pull fruit away from the U.S. market, which will cause seasonal shortages.

The flat fumigation fee will also cause growers and exporters to alter their shipping choices and documentation to minimize the fee rather than shipping efficiency, said Mark Greenberg, president and CEO of Capespan.

Patricia Compres, president and CEO of Advance Customs Brokers & Consulting LLC, said APHIS should scrap the rule altogether. At least one-third of the Miami-based firm’s business relies on asparagus shipments from Peru, which require fumigation.

“We have been counting on the recent expansion of agricultural trade with Latin America and the Caribbean, and the new Cold Treatment admissibility in Florida for the future growth of our company, but now we feel that the fee may be perceived as barrier to trade, thus encouraging these countries to look for other markets such as Asia, Russia and Europe,” she said.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance is not happy either. The proposal to increase APHIS fees from $5.25 per truck, per crossing, to $8, and from $105 for trucks that use transponder technology to $320 is “beyond any reasonable level” and will cause delays at border crossings, the group told APHIS.