Effective January 1, 2019, the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) reduced inspection and weighing service fees by five percent since FGIS’ operating reserve exceeds 4 ½ months of operating expenses.  FGIS also reviewed tonnage fees and the tonnage fees were adjusted to reflect fiscal year 2018 costs and a five-year average of export tons.  The national tonnage fee is the national program administrative costs for the previous fiscal year divided by the avg. yearly million metric tons (mmt) of exported grain.  For 2019, FGIS is reporting that the National Tonnage fee has increased by $.05, or is 8% higher than 2018.  In comparison, the base fee decreased by almost 10% in 2018. As a result of the national tonnage fee increase, the local New Orleans tonnage fee will increase by $.001 for 2019. The League City fees will increase by $.013, the Toledo local tonnage fees will decrease by $.005, and the Portland local fee will decrease by $.003.