March 9, 2005
By Charles Abbott
Wired News
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has sharply cut agricultural inspections at ports of entry since the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a report issued Wednesday by Congress' investigative arm into how to protect the nation from agroterrorism.
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The biggest threat to U.S. agriculture is seen as the intentional introduction of foot-and-mouth disease, a highly contagious livestock disease which is typically controlled by slaughtering animals.
Experts also mentioned avian influenza, which has killed three dozen people in Asia, and, among plant diseases, yield-cutting soybean rust fungus, recently blown into Southern states by hurricanes, said the report released by Congress' non-partisan Government Accountability Office.
In its report, the GAO said inspections of imported food, now a duty of the Homeland Security Department, were down 8 percent in fiscal 2004, compared to fiscal 2002 when the U.S. Agriculture Department was in charge.
The number of agricultural inspections declined at three air and sea ports "that receive a large proportion of international cargo and passenger luggage," it said without identifying the ports.
The Department of Homeland Security told the GAO investigators that it intended to hire 500 more agricultural inspectors.
A Homeland Security supervisor at one airport said inspectors sometimes are told to inspect other types of cargo or to assist clearing travelers through immigration checkpoints. Sometimes, inspectors are not given timely warnings of items to hold for inspection, the report said.
Various U.S. government officials interviewed by the GAO said the risk of a terror attack on the food supply is very low and the impact mainly would be economic, from loss of crops and livestock, and the cost of eradication.
USDA officials said fewer prohibited food products and agricultural pests were being seized. They questioned if inspections were less thorough or if less effective methods were used. The Homeland Defense Department said it was making less use of "sniffer" dogs.
The GAO recommended USDA speed up issuance of regulations that would require veterinarians to have training on how to recognize symptoms of foreign livestock diseases. USDA-accredited veterinarians were "the ones most likely to be called upon if livestock were attacked," the report, noting USDA began work on such rules two years ago.
It also recommended USDA consider on-site use of rapid screening tests for high-risk livestock diseases and create stockpiles of ready-to-use vaccines against the major diseases. At present, there are none.
The USDA holds a foot-and-mouth disease vaccine but it must be activated in England before use.
Sen. Daniel Akaka said he would file a bill to require USDA to issue the rules on veterinarian accreditation and to look into U.S. production of ready-to-use vaccines for animal diseases.
The Hawaii Democrat said he would file a second bill to help state and local governments develop plans for treating agricultural disease outbreaks, as well as a task force on the best approaches for biosecurity.
"We must have a coordinated approach to dealing with the possibility of an attack on the U.S. food supply, which could affect millions of Americans," said Akaka, who requested the GAO report.
Farms and ranches are vulnerable, GAO said, because it is relatively easy to obtain and spread animal and crop diseases. Farms and ranches cover vast areas and have little security.
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