NCJ Number
193147
Date Published
October 2001
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This testimony assessed the vulnerabilities of agriculture and the food chain to an act of agro-terrorism, thereby expanding the debate on the public infrastructure protection and bio-terrorism.
Abstract
In the area of agriculture, minimal attention has been given in the detection, prevention, and response to terrorist threats and incidents. Yet, agriculture and the food industry are critical to the social, economic, and political stability of the United States. Agro-terrorism, or the deliberate introduction of a disease agent against livestock or into the food chain, is typically a tactic that can be used to either generate or cause mass socio-economic disruption or as a form of direct human aggression. This testimony examined the impact of a major attack against agriculture or the food chain that included: mass economic destabilization; loss of political support and confidence in government; and social instability. Policy recommendations for the implementation of measures to augment the effectiveness of the general agricultural/food response structure in the United States were presented and recommended the following: (1) increased investment in human, physical, and logistical infrastructure; (2) the reform of the overall veterinary science curriculum; (3) more attention given on how to involve accredited local and State veterinarians in the USDA’s overall emergency management system; (4) better coordinated and standardized links between the U.S. agricultural, criminal justice, and intelligence communities; (5) a viable national agricultural insurance plan; and (6) more effective bio-security, surveillance, and emergency response at food processors and packing plants. In the long-term, it was suggested that a concerted effort be made to standardize and rationalize food and agricultural safety within a single Federal agency that contains budgetary and programmatic powers over a wide area.