Protection Plan Ordered

President George W. Bush has ordered USDA, the Department Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency work together in creating a new system that will protect the nation's food supply from terrorist attack. USDA director of homeland security Jeremy Stump said the final plan will be a farm-to-fork protective shield around the entire food production and distribution sector. The four federal agencies are working under a directive that calls for creation of procedures to contain any outbreaks of plant or animal disease that result from terror attack, and to prevent or cure the diseases themselves. Food industry leaders said they will cooperate with the program.

The president ordered the agencies to develop plans to stabilize the food supply and the economy and to help the nation recover after an attack. The directive also urges the agencies to work with businesses develop plans to protect themselves. “We should provide the best protection possible against a successful attack on the United States agriculture and food system, which could have catastrophic health and economic effects," Bush said after signing the executive order.

The White House stressed that the discovery in December of the United States' only known case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy did not prompted the initiative. It is part of a process launched in February 2003 to protect the U.S. agricultural economy and the food supply. In fact, BSE would probably not be listed under the program because its long incubation period – up to eight years – and low contagious makes it a poor terror weapon. However, the plan calls for a national livestock identification system by 2005 that could track infected animals within 48 hours. Covered diseases include foot and mouth and anthrax. The plan also calls on USDA to develop a National Veterinary Stockpile that would hold enough animal pharmaceuticals to appropriately respond to a deliberate infection within 24 hours.

USDA also must create a National Plant Disease Recovery System that could respond within a single growing season to "a high-consequence plant disease" with pest control measures or disease-resistant seed. Covered diseases include soybean rust and wheat smut – fast-spreading fungal diseases that can devastate crops but are not major threats in the United States.

The involved agencies will work with the CIA and other government organizations to expose weak spots in the agriculture and food sectors and then develop ways to strengthen them. This would include heightened screening of foods entering the United States. The government already has enlisted customs officials in the Homeland Security Department to help the Food and Drug Administration inspect shipments. By May 2004, USDA will develop a plan to encourage “self-protection for agriculture and food enterprises vulnerable to losses due to terrorism.”

Web posted: February 6, 2004
Category: Food Safety,Legislation and Regulation,Marketing,Trade