|
Increased funding requested for food defense initiativeBy Doug Rich Ed Schafer, Secretary of Agriculture, said none of the United States Department of Agriculture missions are more important than ensuring the safety of our food supply. Schafer was a keynote speaker at the third International Symposium on Agroterrorism held in Kansas City, Mo., April 22 to 24. "In recent weeks, we have seen market driven shortages of key commodities that have set off political turmoil around the world," Schafer said. "This serves to remind us that any large scale threat to a nation's food supply can cause a high level of public anxiety, whether the cause is drought, weather, or willful contamination." Traditionally, the primary missions of USDA were to support the productivity of farmers and ranchers and to protect the food supply from naturally occurring pathogens. "We now have to consider how and where we may be vulnerable to naturally occurring pathogens as well as introduced pathogens," Schafer said. "We have to think not only about efficiency, but about security." USDA is accomplishing this new mission in a variety of ways. Since 9/11, Schafer said they have expanded their laboratory capacity by working with the Food and Drug Administration to form the Food Emergency Response Network. This network includes 140 cooperating state and federal laboratories that will be available to test biological, chemical, and radiological threat agents. "In the fiscal year 2009, we will expand the network of FERN labs out there for handling microbiological testing to 25, which will give us regional coverage in every part of the country," Schafer said. USDA and FDA will focus on their areas of expertise. USDA will be responsible for microbiological testing while FDA will handle chemical and radiological testing. Each lab will be available for testing of the 10 highest threat agents occurring in any type of food. The Strategic Partnership Program for Agroterrorism Initiative has proved to be very valuable, as well. This partnership includes the USDA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FDA, and the Department of Homeland Security. "This partnership has really taken an in-depth look at everything from how we make baby formula to how we feed cattle," Schafer said. This partnership has covered over 35 different areas of food and agriculture production. It has given them a clearer picture of the areas of vulnerability in our food production and processing system. Schafer said that when USDA proposed its budget for 2009 there were no increases. Overall spending was flat so they could stay in line with President Bush's plan to balance the budget by 2012. The only area that showed an increase in spending was the food and agriculture defense initiative. "We propose spending $248 million to protect America's food supply and agriculture," Schafer said. "That is an increase of $84 million over this year's level. We did that because we believe this is the highest priority mission that we are carrying out for the American people." This funding includes $13 million to complete design work on a bio-containment laboratory and poultry research facility in Athens, Ga. The Agriculture Research Service will use this. It will triple their capacity for handling high-threat poultry pathogens. USDA is requesting an additional $7 million in research for ARS next year that will be targeted to naturally occurring pathogens and introduced pathogens that threaten the food supply. Schafer said USDA is requesting $2 million for the higher education agro-security program. This will help train food security professionals. An additional $14.5 is being requested to expand the National Animal Identification System. "Being able to quickly trace a diseased animal to its point of origin and to be able to contain the issue will help us react quickly and effectively," Schafer said. In a press conference following his remarks at the symposium, Schafer said that only about one-third of the 1.4 million premises in the U.S. have been registered. "We will have to increase that dramatically on a voluntary basis or Congress will come in and put a mandate on it," Schafer said. Schafer said the NAIS and traceback capability is also very important to a successful Country of Origin Labeling program. USDA is expected to deliver this program by Oct. 1, unless it is changed by a new farm bill. "Now more than ever we need to assure the general public about the safety of their food supply," Schafer said. Doug Rich can be reached by phone at 785-749-5304 or by e-mail at richhpj@aol.com. 5/5/08 Date: 5/1/08
Copyright/Privacy
Copyright 1995-2008. High Plains Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Any republishing of these pages, including electronic reproduction of the editorial archives or classified advertising, is strictly prohibited. If you have questions or comments you can reach us at High Plains Journal 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., P.O. Box 760, Dodge City, KS 67801 or call 1-800-452-7171. Email: webmaster@hpj.com |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
