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Bush Pushes for Enhanced Food Security President Bush has proposed a major enhancement of homeland security by calling for stronger U.S. defenses against terrorist attacks and natural disasters in the country's agriculture and food system. The president February 3 asked relevant departments and agencies, including the Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments and the Environmental Protection Agency, to develop surveillance and monitoring systems able to detect threats to U.S. agriculture and food production. He also directed his administration to develop measures to protect critical points in the food production and processing chain from the intended or unintended introduction of disease, pests or poisonous agents. The food security plan will boost screening and inspection of agricultural products and food items entering the United States as well as domestic inspections, the document said. Moreover, Bush asked several departments to develop a coordinated and food-specific emergency response plan and enhance recovery systems so that these systems are able to rid the agriculture and food system of contaminated products and infected plants or animals, as well as stabilize agriculture production and the food supply after a terrorist attack or a natural outbreak of a disease occurs. The president also directed his administration to work with state and local governments and the private sector on establishing a national emergency veterinary stockpile and an organization responsible for responding to a potentially catastrophic plant disease with pest control and other measures. In addition, the directive covers information sharing, education, and research and development related to food safety and security. The president's budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning in October 1 calls for significant increases in spending for the protection of the U.S. food supply. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Mark McClellan said February 2 that the budget request "takes into account the escalating demands of food safety and security, especially in the face of potential terrorist acts." Following is the text of the president's directive: (begin text) THE WHITE HOUSE January 30, 2004 HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE HSPD-9 Subject: Defense of United States Agriculture and Food Purpose (1) This directive establishes a national policy to defend the agriculture and food system against terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies. Background (2) The United States agriculture and food systems are vulnerable to disease, pest, or poisonous agents that occur naturally, are unintentionally introduced, or are intentionally delivered by acts of terrorism. Americas agriculture and food system is an extensive, open, interconnected, diverse, and complex structure providing potential targets for terrorist attacks. 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. Definitions (3) In this directive: (a) The term critical infrastructure has the meaning given to that term in section 1016(e) of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)). (b) The term key resources has the meaning given that term in section 2(9) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101(9)). (c) The term Federal departments and agencies means those executive departments enumerated in 5 U.S.C. 101, and the Department of Homeland Security; independent establishments as defined by 5 U.S.C. 104(1); Government corporations as defined by 5 U.S.C. 103(1); and the United States Postal Service. (d) The terms State, and local government, when used in a geographical sense, have the same meanings given to those terms in section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101). (e) The term Sector-Specific Agency means a Federal department or agency responsible for infrastructure protection activities in a designated critical infrastructure sector or key resources category. Policy (4) It is the policy of the United States to protect the agriculture and food system from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies by: (a) identifying and prioritizing sector-critical infrastructure and key resources for establishing protection requirements; (b) developing awareness and early warning capabilities to recognize threats; (c) mitigating vulnerabilities at critical production and processing nodes; (d) enhancing screening procedures for domestic and imported products; and (e) enhancing response and recovery procedures. (5) In implementing this directive, Federal departments and agencies will ensure that homeland security programs do not diminish the overall economic security of the United States. Roles and Responsibilities (6) As established in Homeland Security Presidential Directive-7 (HSPD-7), the Secretary of Homeland Security is responsible for coordinating the overall national effort to enhance the protection of the critical infrastructure and key resources of the United States. The Secretary of Homeland Security shall serve as the principal Federal official to lead, integrate, and coordinate implementation of efforts among Federal departments and agencies, State and local governments, and the private sector to protect critical infrastructure and key resources. This directive shall be implemented in a manner consistent with HSPD-7. (7) The Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency will perform their responsibilities as Sector-Specific Agencies as delineated in HSPD-7. Awareness and Warning (8) The Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies shall build upon and expand current monitoring and surveillance programs to: (a) develop robust, comprehensive, and fully coordinated surveillance and monitoring systems, including international information, for animal disease, plant disease, wildlife disease, food, public health, and water quality that provides early detection and awareness of disease, pest, or poisonous agents; (b) develop systems that, as appropriate, track specific animals and plants, as well as specific commodities and food; and (c) develop nationwide laboratory networks for food, veterinary, plant health, and water quality that integrate existing Federal and State laboratory resources, are interconnected, and utilize standardized diagnostic protocols and procedures. (9) The Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of Central Intelligence, in coordination with the Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall develop and enhance intelligence operations and analysis capabilities focusing on the agriculture, food, and water sectors. These intelligence capabilities will include collection and analysis of information concerning threats, delivery systems, and methods that could be directed against these sectors. (10) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall coordinate with the Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies to create a new biological threat awareness capacity that will enhance detection and characterization of an attack. This new capacity will build upon the improved and upgraded surveillance systems described in paragraph 8 and integrate and analyze domestic and international surveillance and monitoring data collected from human health, animal health, plant health, food, and water quality systems. The Secretary of Homeland Security will submit a report to me through the Homeland Security Council within 90 days of the date of this directive on specific options for establishing this capability, including recommendations for its organizational location and structure. Vulnerability Assessments (11) The Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security shall expand and continue vulnerability assessments of the agriculture and food sectors. These vulnerability assessments should identify requirements of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan developed by the Secretary of Homeland Security, as appropriate, and shall be updated every 2 years. Mitigation Strategies (12) The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General, working with the Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of Central Intelligence, and the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies shall prioritize, develop, and implement, as appropriate, mitigation strategies to protect vulnerable critical nodes of production or processing from the introduction of diseases, pests, or poisonous agents. (13) The Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security shall build on existing efforts to expand development of common screening and inspection procedures for agriculture and food items entering the United States and to maximize effective domestic inspection activities for food items within the United States. Response Planning and Recovery (14) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, the Attorney General, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, will ensure that the combined Federal, State, and local response capabilities are adequate to respond quickly and effectively to a terrorist attack, major disease outbreak, or other disaster affecting the national agriculture or food infrastructure. These activities will be integrated with other national homeland security preparedness activities developed under HSPD-8 on National Preparedness. (15) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, the Attorney General, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall develop a coordinated agriculture and food-specific standardized response plan that will be integrated into the National Response Plan. This plan will ensure a coordinated response to an agriculture or food incident and will delineate the appropriate roles of Federal, State, local, and private sector partners, and will address risk communication for the general public. (16) The Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall enhance recovery systems that are able to stabilize agriculture production, the food supply, and the economy, rapidly remove and effectively dispose of contaminated agriculture and food products or infected plants and animals, and decontaminate premises. (17) The Secretary of Agriculture shall study and make recommendations to the Homeland Security Council, within 120 days of the date of this directive, for the use of existing, and the creation of new, financial risk management tools encouraging self-protection for agriculture and food enterprises vulnerable to losses due to terrorism. 18) The Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, and in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall work with State and local governments and the private sector to develop: (a) A National Veterinary Stockpile (NVS) containing sufficient amounts of animal vaccine, antiviral, or therapeutic products to appropriately respond to the most damaging animal diseases affecting human health and the economy and that will be capable of deployment within 24 hours of an outbreak. The NVS shall leverage where appropriate the mechanisms and infrastructure that have been developed for the management, storage, and distribution of the Strategic National Stockpile. (b) A National Plant Disease Recovery System (NPDRS) capable of responding to a high-consequence plant disease with pest control measures and the use of resistant seed varieties within a single growing season to sustain a reasonable level of production for economically important crops. The NPDRS will utilize the genetic resources contained in the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System, as well as the scientific capabilities of the Federal-State-industry agricultural research and extension system. The NPDRS shall include emergency planning for the use of resistant seed varieties and pesticide control measures to prevent, slow, or stop the spread of a high-consequence plant disease, such as wheat smut or soybean rust. Outreach and Professional Development (19) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies, shall work with appropriate private sector entities to establish an effective information sharing and analysis mechanism for agriculture and food. (20) The Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Education, shall support the development of and promote higher education programs for the protection of animal, plant, and public health. To the extent permitted by law and subject to availability of funds, the program will provide capacity building grants to colleges and schools of veterinary medicine, public health, and agriculture that design higher education training programs for veterinarians in exotic animal diseases, epidemiology, and public health as well as new programs in plant diagnosis and treatment. (21) The Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Education, shall support the development of and promote a higher education program to address protection of the food supply. To the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of funds, the program will provide capacity-building grants to universities for interdisciplinary degree programs that combine training in food sciences, agriculture sciences, medicine, veterinary medicine, epidemiology, microbiology, chemistry, engineering, and mathematics (statistical modeling) to prepare food defense professionals. (22) The Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security shall establish opportunities for professional development and specialized training in agriculture and food protection, such as internships, fellowships, and other post-graduate opportunities that provide for homeland security professional workforce needs. Research and Development (23) The Secretaries of Homeland Security, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, will accelerate and expand development of current and new countermeasures against the intentional introduction or natural occurrence of catastrophic animal, plant, and zoonotic diseases. The Secretary of Homeland Security will coordinate these activities. This effort will include countermeasure research and development of new methods for detection, prevention technologies, agent characterization, and dose response relationships for high-consequence agents in the food and the water supply. (24) The Secretaries of Agriculture and Homeland Security will develop a plan to provide safe, secure, and state-of-the-art agriculture biocontainment laboratories that research and develop diagnostic capabilities for foreign animal and zoonotic diseases. (25) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, shall establish university-based centers of excellence in agriculture and food security. Budget (26) For all future budgets, the Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security shall submit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, concurrent with their budget submissions, an integrated budget plan for defense of the United States food system. Implementation (27) Nothing in this directive alters, or impedes the ability to carry out, the authorities of the Federal departments and agencies to perform their responsibilities under law and consistent with applicable legal authorities and Presidential guidance. (28) This directive is intended only to improve the internal management of the executive branch of the Federal Government, and it is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against the United States, its departments, agencies, or other entities, its officers or employees, or any other person. GEORGE W. BUSH (end text) |
