U.S. Should Be Better Prepared For Pests, Diseases

In testimony today, the National Pork Producers Council urged congressional lawmakers to work with the Obama administration to improve the preparedness of the United States to deal with a foreign pest infestation or disease outbreak.

 

While over the years improvements have been made to the systems that safeguard U.S. agriculture, former USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Administrator Bobby Acord, testifying on behalf of NPPC, told a subcommittee of the House Committee on Homeland Security, much more needs to be done to prevent plant and animal pests and diseases from entering the country and devastating U.S. food producers.

 

Accord, who served as APHIS administrator from 2001 to 2004, told the committee’s Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communication that the introduction of foreign pests and diseases can have severe consequences for agriculture production, consumer prices and, potentially, food availability. They also could adversely affect U.S. exports, with foreign trading partners closing their markets to U.S. goods.

 

"There seems to be a growing consensus that there are serious flaws in the country’s preparedness to deal with threats to U.S. agriculture and the food supply," said Acord.

 

A blue ribbon panel last fall released a report on U.S. bio-defenses that highlighted the need for improvements in the system for protecting the U.S. livestock herd and the nation’s food supply, and concerns about the country’s preparedness to deal with foreign animal diseases were raised in a November hearing of the House Agriculture Committee.