For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 3, 2004
Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-9
Subject: Defense of United States Agriculture and Food
January 30, 2004
Purpose
(1) This directive establishes a national policy to defend the
agriculture and food system against terrorist attacks, major disasters,
and other emergencies.
Background
(2) The United States agriculture and food systems are vulnerable
to disease, pest, or poisonous agents that occur naturally, are
unintentionally introduced, or are intentionally delivered by acts of
terrorism. Americas agriculture and food system is an extensive, open,
interconnected, diverse, and complex structure providing potential
targets for terrorist attacks. We should provide the best protection
possible against a successful attack on the United States agriculture
and food system, which could have catastrophic health and economic
effects.
Definitions
(3) In this directive:
(a) The term critical infrastructure has the meaning given to
that term in section 1016(e) of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)).
(b) The term key resources has the meaning given that term in section 2(9) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101(9)).
(c) The term Federal departments and agencies means those
executive departments enumerated in 5 U.S.C. 101, and the Department of Homeland Security; indepen-dent establishments as defined by 5 U.S.C. 104(1); Government corporations as defined by 5 U.S.C. 103(1); and the United States Postal Service.
(d) The terms State, and local government, when used in a geographical sense, have the same meanings given to those terms in section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101).
(e) The term Sector-Specific Agency means a Federal department or agency responsible for infrastructure protection activities in a designated critical infrastructure sector or key resources category.
Policy
(4) It is the policy of the United States to protect the
agriculture and food system from terrorist attacks, major disasters,
and other emergencies by:
(a) identifying and prioritizing sector-critical infrastructure and key resources for establishing protection requirements;
(b) developing awareness and early warning capabilities to recognize threats;
(c) mitigating vulnerabilities at critical production and processing nodes;
(d) enhancing screening procedures for domestic and imported products; and
(e) enhancing response and recovery procedures.
(5) In implementing this directive, Federal departments and
agencies will ensure that homeland security programs do not diminish
the overall economic security of the United States.
Roles and Responsibilities
(6) As established in Homeland Security Presidential Directive-7
(HSPD-7), the Secretary of Homeland Security is responsible for
coordinating the overall national effort to enhance the protection of
the critical infrastructure and key resources of the United States.
The Secretary of Homeland Security shall serve as the principal Federal
official to lead, integrate, and coordinate implementation of efforts
among Federal departments and agencies, State and local governments,
and the private sector to protect critical infrastructure and key
resources. This directive shall be implemented in a manner consistent
with HSPD-7.
(7) The Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency will perform
their responsibilities as Sector-Specific Agencies as delineated in
HSPD-7.
Awareness and Warning
(8) The Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, Health and Human
Services, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and
the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies shall
build upon and expand current monitoring and surveillance programs to:
(a) develop robust, comprehensive, and fully coordinated surveillance and monitoring systems, including international information, for animal disease, plant disease, wildlife disease, food, public health, and water quality that provides early detection and awareness of disease, pest, or poisonous agents;
(b) develop systems that, as appropriate, track specific animals and plants, as well as specific commodities and food; and
(c) develop nationwide laboratory networks for food, veterinary, plant health, and water quality that integrate existing Federal and State laboratory resources, are interconnected, and utilize standardized diagnostic protocols and procedures.
(9) The Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and
the Director of Central Intelligence, in coordination with the
Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall develop and
enhance intelligence operations and analysis capabilities focusing on
the agriculture, food, and water sectors. These intelligence
capabilities will include collection and analysis of information
concerning threats, delivery systems, and methods that could be
directed against these sectors.
(10) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall coordinate with the
Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the heads of
other appropriate Federal departments and agencies to create a new
biological threat awareness capacity that will enhance detection and
characterization of an attack. This new capacity will build upon the
improved and upgraded surveillance systems described in paragraph 8 and
integrate and analyze domestic and international surveillance and
monitoring data collected from human health, animal health, plant
health, food, and water quality systems. The Secretary of Homeland
Security will submit a report to me through the Homeland Security
Council within 90 days of the date of this directive on specific
options for establishing this capability, including recommendations for
its organizational location and structure.
Vulnerability Assessments
(11) The Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and
Homeland Security shall expand and continue vulnerability assessments
of the agriculture and food sectors. These vulnerability assessments
should identify requirements of the National Infrastructure Protection
Plan developed by the Secretary of Homeland Security, as appropriate,
and shall be updated every 2 years.
Mitigation Strategies
(12) The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General,
working with the Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services,
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director
of Central Intelligence, and the heads of other appropriate Federal
departments and agencies shall prioritize, develop, and implement, as
appropriate, mitigation strategies to protect vulnerable critical nodes
of production or processing from the introduction of diseases, pests,
or poisonous agents.
(13) The Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and
Homeland Security shall build on existing efforts to expand development
of common screening and inspection procedures for agriculture and food
items entering the United States and to maximize effective domestic
inspection activities for food items within the United States.
Response Planning and Recovery
(14) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the
Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, the Attorney
General, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency,
will ensure that the combined Federal, State, and local response
capabilities are adequate to respond quickly and effectively to a
terrorist attack, major disease outbreak, or other disaster affecting
the national agriculture or food infrastructure. These activities will
be integrated with other national homeland security preparedness
activities developed under HSPD-8 on National Preparedness.
(15) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the
Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, the Attorney
General, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency,
shall develop a coordinated agriculture and food-specific standardized
response plan that will be integrated into the National Response Plan.
This plan will ensure a coordinated response to an agriculture or food
incident and will delineate the appropriate roles of Federal, State,
local, and private sector partners, and will address risk communication
for the general public.
(16) The Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services,
in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall enhance
recovery systems that are able to stabilize agriculture production, the
food supply, and the economy, rapidly remove and effectively dispose of
contaminated agriculture and food products or infected plants and
animals, and decontaminate premises.
(17) The Secretary of Agriculture shall study and make
recommendations to the Homeland Security Council, within 120 days of
the date of this directive, for the use of existing, and the creation
of new, financial risk management tools encouraging self-protection for
agriculture and food enterprises vulnerable to losses due to
terrorism.
18) The Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the
Secretary of Homeland Security, and in consultation with the Secretary
of Health and Human Services and the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency, shall work with State and local governments and the
private sector to develop:
(a) A National Veterinary Stockpile (NVS) containing sufficient amounts of animal vaccine, antiviral, or therapeutic products to appropriately respond to the most damaging animal diseases affecting human health and the economy and that will be capable of deployment within 24 hours of an outbreak. The NVS shall leverage where appropriate the mechanisms and infrastructure that have been developed for the management, storage, and distribution of the Strategic National Stockpile.
(b) A National Plant Disease Recovery System (NPDRS) capable of responding to a high-consequence plant disease with pest control measures and the use of resistant seed varieties within a single growing season to sustain a reasonable level of production for economically important crops. The NPDRS will utilize the genetic resources contained in the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System, as well as the scientific capabilities of the Federal-State-industry agricultural research and extension system. The NPDRS shall include emergency planning for the use of resistant seed varieties and pesticide control measures to prevent, slow, or stop the spread of a high-consequence plant disease, such as wheat smut or soybean rust.
Outreach and Professional Development
(19) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the
Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the heads of
other appropriate Federal departments and agencies, shall work with
appropriate private sector entities to establish an effective
information sharing and analysis mechanism for agriculture and food.
(20) The Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services,
in consultation with the Secretaries of Homeland Security and
Education, shall support the development of and promote higher
education programs for the protection of animal, plant, and public
health. To the extent permitted by law and subject to availability of
funds, the program will provide capacity building grants to colleges
and schools of veterinary medicine, public health, and agriculture that
design higher education training programs for veterinarians in exotic
animal diseases, epidemiology, and public health as well as new
programs in plant diagnosis and treatment.
(21) The Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services,
in consultation with the Secretaries of Homeland Security and
Education, shall support the development of and promote a higher
education program to address protection of the food supply. To the
extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of funds, the
program will provide capacity-building grants to universities for
interdisciplinary degree programs that combine training in food
sciences, agriculture sciences, medicine, veterinary medicine,
epidemiology, microbiology, chemistry, engineering, and mathematics
(statistical modeling) to prepare food defense professionals.
(22) The Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and
Homeland Security shall establish opportunities for professional
development and specialized training in agriculture and food
protection, such as internships, fellowships, and other post-graduate
opportunities that provide for homeland security professional workforce
needs.
Research and Development
(23) The Secretaries of Homeland Security, Agriculture, and Health
and Human Services, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency, and the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and
agencies, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Science
and Technology Policy, will accelerate and expand development of
current and new countermeasures against the intentional introduction or
natural occurrence of catastrophic animal, plant, and zoonotic
diseases. The Secretary of Homeland Security will coordinate these
activities. This effort will include countermeasure research and
development of new methods for detection, prevention technologies,
agent characterization, and dose response relationships for
high-consequence agents in the food and the water supply.
(24) The Secretaries of Agriculture and Homeland Security will
develop a plan to provide safe, secure, and state-of-the-art
agriculture biocontainment laboratories that research and develop
diagnostic capabilities for foreign animal and zoonotic diseases.
(25) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the
Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, shall
establish university-based centers of excellence in agriculture and
food security.
Budget
(26) For all future budgets, the Secretaries of Agriculture, Health
and Human Services, and Homeland Security shall submit to the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget, concurrent with their budget
submissions, an integrated budget plan for defense of the United States
food system.
Implementation
(27) Nothing in this directive alters, or impedes the ability to
carry out, the authorities of the Federal departments and agencies to
perform their responsibilities under law and consistent with applicable
legal authorities and Presidential guidance.
(28) This directive is intended only to improve the internal
management of the executive branch of the Federal Government, and it is
not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive
or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against the United
States, its departments, agencies, or other entities, its officers or
employees, or any other person.
GEORGE W. BUSH
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