Safeguarding American Agriculture
Bruce I. Knight, Under Secretary for
Marketing and Regulatory Programs
Homeland Security Defense Council
Washington, DC
February 12, 2008
Good morning. I’m delighted to join you today to talk about U.S. agriculture and the need to protect our crops and livestock from foreign pests and diseases, whether introduced unintentionally or through agroterrorism. I also want to share with you what we’re doing to mitigate threats and how we could use your help.
Importance of Agriculture
Agriculture is a vital component of our nation’s economy. Our nation’s food and fiber system contributed at least $1.25 trillion dollars to the U.S. GDP in 2006. In addition, roughly 16 percent of Americans work in the broad sector of food and fiber.
Of particular importance to homeland security is the significant increase in agricultural trade. U.S. ag exports are growing dramatically—by more than 15 percent last year and with projected growth of nearly 11 percent more this year.
Ag imports are rising as well—increasing from nearly $39 billion in 2000 to more than $65 billion in 2006.
As goods move back and forth across the border, we must remain vigilant to safeguard U.S. agriculture from unwelcome pests and diseases. We all know that pests can enter the U.S. with produce and livestock. But we also need to be aware of other venues as well.
Let me tell you about the emerald ash borer, which was discovered in Michigan in 2002. This voracious woodboring beetle is currently feasting on forests there and in Ohio and Indiana while we try to eradicate it. It’s also been found in nursery stock in Maryland and Virginia.
Native to China and eastern Asia, this pest probably entered North America hidden in woodpacking materials commonly used to ship consumer goods—perhaps 10 years before it was identified.
When your trucks are stopped and screened at the border—and you’re charged for the privilege—this is why. We’re looking for unauthorized passengers—and I don’t mean the two-legged kind.
Most of the trespassers that agricultural inspectors are searching for have wings or six legs. They hide in boxes and bags, cling to dark corners or travel in stray dirt or mud.
Responsibilities of Marketing and Regulatory Programs
I want to tell you briefly about my mission area—Marketing and Regulatory Programs. MRP at USDA is charged with facilitating domestic and international marketing of U.S. agricultural products and ensuring the health and care of animals and plants.
MRP includes three agencies— the Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration; the Agricultural Marketing Service and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS for short. Our homeland security responsibilities fall under APHIS, so that will be my focus this morning.
Specifically related to homeland security, APHIS sets science-based standards for agricultural imports to guard against foreign pests and diseases, conducts research on ways to combat invasive species and eradicate plant pests, like the emerald ash borer, and manages our National Animal Identification System.
Our Role in Homeland Security
To carry out its sentinel role in protecting U.S. agriculture, APHIS employs more than 8,500 people in all 50 states, several territories and more than 30 foreign countries. APHIS is the USDA representative for the Strategic Partnership Program Agroterrorism Initiative (SPPA—“spa”). Together with Homeland Security and other federal agencies, private industry and state volunteers, APHIS is helping assess vulnerabilities in the food and agriculture sector as part of Presidential directives 7 and 9.
In addition, APHIS and other USDA agencies partner with the Department of the Interior on Emergency Support Function #11—ESF 11—under the National Response Framework. We are jointly responsible for managing agricultural and natural resources during an all-hazards emergency.
We must be sure that:
- Food needs are met;
- The commercial food supply is safe and secure;
- Animal and plant diseases and pest situations are addressed;
- Household pets receive appropriate care; and
- Important natural and cultural resources and historic properties are protected.
Lines of Defense
Let me share with you briefly some of the tools and strategies that APHIS uses to safeguard U.S. agriculture. Our goal is to be proactive and forward thinking. Like others involved in homeland security, we want to be several steps ahead of potential threats.
Offshore Pest Information Program
Our first line of defense, if you will, is not at the U.S. border—it’s overseas, on foreign soil, monitoring what’s happening and assisting our trading partners in pest and disease identification and eradication. We call it the Offshore Pest Information Program. It uses a web-based, secure reporting system.
We use information gathered through OPIP in developing our risk assessments to determine what measures need to be taken in-country or at our borders before accepting specific commodities for import. This information also helps us identify emerging pests and disease situations that could potentially threaten U.S. agriculture.
Agricultural Quarantine Inspection
A second line of defense is at the border. Together with Customs and Border Protection, APHIS operates the Agricultural Quarantine Inspection program.
CBP employs the agricultural inspectors and conducts border inspections. We help with the training of the ag inspectors and beagles.
APHIS also develops regulations, conducts risk assessments in other countries, inspects imported plants at inspection sites, conducts domestic surveillance for pests and diseases, responds quickly to emergencies and conducts anti-smuggling activities.
APHIS has 17 inspection stations at major U.S. ports and air terminals that focus on plants imported into the country. In addition, we have 108 officers in our Smuggling Interdiction and Trade Compliance program. Our SITC officers work with DHS CBP agents to intercept smuggled items. In addition, SITC officers conduct local domestic market surveys to check for prohibited agricultural commodities.
In November and December last year, SITC and CBP worked together at JFK Airport in New York on “Operation Bad BBQ,” checking 963 passengers arriving from Ghana and Nigeria. The agents made 152 seizures totaling 629 pounds of prohibited and restricted material, including 77 pounds of bushmeat, more than 250 pounds of other meat and poultry products and nearly 300 pounds of plant products. We’re concerned about vectors for disease as well as violations of import statutes.
CBP and APHIS also work with the U.S. Postal Service. Thus far, in an ongoing operation at the Secaucus International Mail Facility in New Jersey, they’ve made 334 seizures totaling 1,024 pounds of illegal products coming from China.
I want to mention just one other border operation that we were involved in recently. Last fall, just as duck hunting season began in Canada, we learned
from the Canadian Food Inspection Service Agency that a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza had been identified in a commercial flock of chickens in Saskatchewan Province. So we promptly barred all imports of birds from this province, in keeping with our agreed upon protocols with Canada.
The initial scope of the ban included wild fowl as well—and we had a lot of unhappy duck hunters from the U.S. unable to bring their prizes back across the border. Ultimately, because Canada determined that wild birds were not involved, we were able to relax the prohibitions and permit hunters to bring their ducks into the country.
This was evidence that by having the relationships and protocols in place, our two countries were able to respond appropriately—and adjust the response appropriately—to protect our borders at the speed of commerce. However, we also issued advice to hunters to provide some common sense guidelines to reduce risk of contracting wildlife diseases.
Domestic Surveillance
Our third line of defense is domestic surveillance—and we have a number of efforts beyond our SITC program that help us spot pests and diseases. We partner with states and the private sector to quickly identify problems.
Along with other USDA agencies, we have worked with the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians to establish the National Animal Health Laboratory Network. This is a network of 54 state and university labs and 4 federal labs located in 45 states. These laboratories provide extra surveillance and capacity for testing and recovery in emergencies. They’ve been involved in surveillance efforts for the most serious diseases we’re on the lookout for: foot-and-mouth disease, avian influenza, exotic Newcastle disease and classical swine fever.
The animal labs’ counterpart is the National Plant Diagnostic Network. This is a network of public agricultural institutions linked to quickly detect plant pests and pathogens that could threaten our nation’s crops. This is supported by CAPS, which is our surveillance program for plant pests.
Back to animal health. Since 1921, APHIS has offered an accreditation program for veterinarians, and those vets who participate function as extra eyes and ears, wherever they may be. We count on them to spot anything amiss, contact our local offices and alert us. Accredited veterinarians have helped in our efforts to eradicate brucellosis and TB among cattle.
As I mentioned earlier, we also turn to private vets to supplement our staff in outbreak situations through the Veterinary Reserve Corps. Just like the military reserves, we call them up when we need them—and as trusted members of the community—they help us out by talking with producers and with testing, quarantining and disposing of animals.
In addition to working with auxiliary animal health professionals, we have expanded our partnerships to include members of the intelligence community and law enforcement agencies. We need to work together to share information and integrate what we know to see emerging concerns and threats.
Preparing for Emergencies
Over the past several years, as the National Response Plan and now the National Response Framework have been fleshed out, USDA and APHIS have become more involved in emergency preparedness. We’ve provided staff with incident command training. We participate regularly in animal health incident training exercises.
And when 54,000 turkeys in Virginia were infected with low pathogenic AI last summer, APHIS got an opportunity to put the training into practice. The agency formed an incident management team cooperating with industry and Virginia animal health officials to depopulate and dispose of the affected flock.
APHIS has designated 18 area emergency coordinators who are responsible for linking all local, state and federal resources together to make the National Animal Health Emergency Management System work. These are the staff who would work with FEMA on animal health emergencies.
We also maintain the National Veterinary Stockpile. This cache includes personal protective equipment, vaccines and other critical veterinary products that we can lay our hands on within 24 hours to supplement state and local resources to fight dangerous animal diseases. Our focus is to make available countermeasures against the 17 most dangerous animal disease threats and to help states with pre-event planning to ensure rapid response.
In conjunction with DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate, we’re developing a world-class animal disease bio-containment facility. This is the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility or NBAF for short. It will house the National Animal Disease Center, now located in an aging facility on Plum Island, off Long Island in New York.
Preparing for Specific Outbreaks
I’ve mentioned avian influenza several times because it is a very real current threat. Many of our efforts involve dealing with imported products. However, avian influenza could be transmitted by wild birds that fly around the globe, so we need to take special steps to guard against it. I want to share with you briefly what we’re doing.
APHIS has taken a leading role in global efforts to combat highly pathogenic avian influenza with an extensive surveillance program. In cooperation with state partners and the Department of the Interior, we tested more than 200,000 wild birds during 2007. We’re also working with backyard flock owners, commercial producers and live bird markets to test domestic poultry.
We have a four-pronged approach to combat AI. This approach includes:
- Providing international assistance
- Applying import restrictions
- Conducting surveillance and detection efforts, and
- Conducting preparedness and communications and educational activities
Should we face an outbreak of AI, we have a detailed response plan in place,
and we can dispatch a team immediately to the scene. We have nearly 1,000 USDA vets and animal health technicians. Plus, we can draw on 700 state vets and animal technicians as well as the 1,300 animal health professionals in the Veterinary Reserve Corps that I mentioned earlier.
Handling Outbreaks
We have gained valuable experience, from the outbreaks that we’ve already dealt with, such as exotic Newcastle disease—a contagious and fatal poultry disease—in California in 2003. That outbreak cost $130 million in federal funds and took 7 months to eradicate. That same year, discovering BSE in one cow resulted in an 80% loss in beef trade the following year.
We’ve also learned from “near misses.” I want to talk with you about one of those this morning—and the lessons we learned.
It was an unusual situation involving possible foot-and-mouth disease.
Foot-and-mouth disease, or FMD for short, is a severe viral disease affecting primarily cows and pigs.
There hasn’t been a case in the U.S. since 1929! However, it is present throughout the globe.
When there’s an outbreak, FMD spreads widely and rapidly. But the symptoms—fever and blistering first on the tongue and lips—followed by erosions—are also common to other diseases. The only way to rule out FMD is through laboratory testing.
In this situation, which occurred in Minnesota this past summer, a USDA food inspector at a pork packing plant spotted a lesion on a pig’s snout and promptly called his superiors who also called APHIS. We immediately began to investigate and conduct the necessary tests, which ultimately determined the illness was NOT FMD, but another virus, which fortunately didn’t impact human health.
But meanwhile, here’s what else happened: The packing plant was put on hold—which affected 15.8 million pounds of product—and the site had limited storage, with more pigs on the way!
In addition, many of the 2,000 employees of the plant lived on farms and could potentially expose additional animals to the disease, if FMD had been found. Further, the pigs in question came from Canada, so we needed to get in touch with our Canadian counterparts to track down the source of the animals—and follow up if FMD were discovered. We also needed to find the truck driver who dropped the pigs off—and had already headed out to pick up his next load.
As we reviewed this situation after it was resolved, we realized that we needed to improve our communication in many ways. For example, packing plant officials were needlessly alarmed because they didn’t realize that we conduct some 400 investigations of potential disease outbreaks each year—and most of them, fortunately, turn out to be less virulent diseases than the ones we’re testing for. The local media was also very concerned.
We learned that we needed to
- Develop more effective emergency response and communication plans in coordination with state and industry
- Establish telephone trees to be sure we could reach all appropriate state and federal officials
- Communicate more effectively with industry and federal and state officials about APHIS’ disease and bioterrorism investigations
And we’re working on a number of fronts to make sure we handle the next situation more smoothly with better communication all around.
NAIS
One of the tools that we have been working on that will facilitate animal tracing when there is a disease outbreak is our National Animal Identification System.
NAIS has been—and will continue to be—one of USDA’s top priorities.
Today, we have a collection of systems based on tracking for six specific disease programs such as TB and brucellosis—a contagious disease that causes abortion in cattle and pigs. NAIS will give us an updated, modernized and integrated approach to animal identification and tracing. Our ultimate goal is to have data in our hands within 48 hours of an incident so we can begin our investigation—and halt an outbreak.
The first step for NAIS is to get farmers and ranchers to register their premises.
Today, we have some 447,000 premises registered nationwide out of an estimated 1.4 million. That’s good progress, but we still have a ways to go.
Our goal is to get a critical mass of producers into this program—about 70 percent participation for each species. To do that, we’re partnering with industry organizations and state agriculture departments.
Need Creative Solutions
Our goal in safeguarding agriculture is prevention, detection and eradication of pests and diseases at the speed of commerce. So, we’re looking for creative solutions that will work in the marketplace.
American agriculture would welcome drive-by screening or irradiation options that we could employ at the border to bring in—or ship out—goods guaranteed pest-free. We need faster and more accurate tests for animal diseases. There’s room for innovation in individual animal identification devices. Or you could improve the equipment that reads those tags or computer chips as animals pass through the auction barn or packing plant chute.
The door is open for new biologics to cure animal disease or vaccines to prevent it.
Have you got a device that will fry bugs without damaging plants? Bring it on.
American agriculture thrives on creative solutions that expand productivity and prevent problems. We would love to see some of your companies enter this arena with solutions that will help us maximize our business.
Let us know how we can work together.