Contact:  Lizette Beckman at (360) 902-2080

General Information About Reporting Tonnage

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• Reporting Tonnage
• Paying Inspection Fees
• Penalty for Late Reports/Fees
• Reporting Periods and Due Dates
• Failure to Report
• Responsible Buyer
• Requirements of Responsible Buyers
• Q & A Feed Tonnage Reports and Inspection Fees
• What is a Commercial Feed in Washington State

Reporting Tonnage

If you register commercial feed in Washington or have a Washington commercial feed license, you are required to submit a tonnage report regardless of the amount you distributed or whether you owe inspection fees. You must submit a report even if you did not distribute any commercial feed during the reporting period.

Here are some examples of completed tonnage reports.

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Paying Inspection Fees

The initial distributor of a commercial feed in or into Washington is responsible for paying the inspection fee unless the feed is distributed to a responsible buyer or if the product is a pet food and is distributed in less than ten pound packages.

If you manufacture commercial feed in Washington, and you are not a responsible buyer, you are required to pay inspection fees on only that portion of the manufactured feed for which fees have not already been paid. For example, if you purchase and use canola meal as one of the ingredients in your feed, you are not required to pay inspection fees for that portion of your feed since inspection fees have already been paid by the initial distributor of the canola meal.

Only those companies that are on the responsible buyers list can be exempted to by the initial distributor. These companies are required to report and pay inspection fees on all commercial feed they receive.

Note: A responsible buyer can exempt to another responsible buyer. The inspection fee must be paid by the last responsible buyer to distribute the commercial feed.

If you distributed a feed and are required to pay, the minimum inspection fee is $12.50. If you did not distribute any feed into the state, then the minimum inspection fee does not apply, however you must still file a tonnage report claiming zero distribution.

For more information about reporting tonnage visit the Q & A Tonnage Reports and Inspection Fees page.

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Penalty for Late Tonnage Reports/Inspection Fees

Any registrant or licensee who fails to file a complete report and/or pay the inspection fee by the due date is required to pay a late fee equal to 15% of the inspection fee owed or $50, whichever is greater.

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Reporting Periods and Due Dates

Tonnage reporting forms are mailed out on the following schedule:

• January – June: forms are mailed out June 1st of every year with the commercial feed license renewal application.
  • January – June tonnage reports are due in the office by July 31st.
  
  
• July – December: forms are mailed out by the second week of December.
  • July – December reports are due in the office by January 31st.

It is your responsibility to report on time.

If you did not receive your tonnage report by the middle of June or the end of December; you can find the forms online at: http://agr.wa.gov/FoodAnimal/AnimalFeed/Forms.aspx or contact the department at (360) 902-2080.

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Failure to Submit Tonnage Reports

Once the department has processed all tonnage reports received for the reporting period, companies that failed to submit a report will be sent a delinquent notice. Any company submitting a late report is subject to late fees.

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Responsible Buyer

A responsible buyer is a licensee who has agreed to be responsible for reporting tonnage and paying inspection fees for all commercial feeds they distribute.

To become a responsible buyer, complete form 4304 Application for Responsible Buyer Status or contact the department and request the application. Once you’ve completed the form and sent it in, you will be added to the Responsible Buyer List.

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Requirements of Responsible Buyers

As mentioned above, when reporting tonnage it is normally the initial distributor that pays the inspection fee on commercial feed they distribute into the state.

As a responsible buyer you are now responsible for paying the inspection fees on all commercial feed you distribute (unless exempted to another responsible buyer). You will also need to report who you purchased product from.

The following are the tonnage forms a responsible buyer is required to complete:

• Responsible Buyer Semi-Annual Commercial Feed Tonnage Report – AGR 4331
• Responsible Buyer Semi-Annual Commercial Feed Tonnage Report – AGR 4331A
• Commercial Feed Semi-Annual Feed Tonnage Report – AGR 4309B
• Commercial Feed Semi-Annual Feed Tonnage Report – AGR 4309C