	Agriculture as a Target of Terrorism

		Overview of Agroterrorism

The potential for terrorist attacks against agricultural targets (agroterrorism) is increasingly recognized as a national security threat, especially after the events of September 11, 2001. In this context, agroterrorism is defined as the deliberate introduction of an animal or plant disease with the goal of generating fear over the safety of food, causing economic losses, and/or undermining social stability. The goal of agroterrorism is not killing cows or plants. These are the means to the end of causing economic crises in the agricultural and food industries, social unrest, and loss of confidence in government. Human health could be at risk through contaminated food or if an animal pathogen is transmissible to humans (zoonotic). While agriculture may not be a terrorist's first choice because it lacks the "shock factor" of more traditional terrorist targets, an increasing number of terrorism analysts consider it a viable secondary target. Agriculture has several characteristics that pose unique problems:
Farms are geographically disbursed in unsecured environments (e.g., open fields and pastures throughout the countryside). International trade in livestock, grains, and food products is often tied to disease-free status. Congress has held hearings on agroterrorism and, while addressing terrorism more broadly, has implemented laws and appropriations with provisions important to agriculture. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has studied aspects of food safety, border inspections, interagency coordination, and physical security with respect to agroterrorism. The executive branch has responded by implementing the new laws, issuing several presidential directives, creating terrorism and agroterrorism task forces, and publishing protection and response plans. Appropriations

Appropriations and user fees for agriculture-related homeland security activities in USDA and DHS have more than tripled from the $225 million "pre-September 11" baseline to $818 million in FY2007. As a percentage of non-defense budget authority for homeland security, agriculture receives about 2.1% of the total. Consequently, the U.S. system is being upgraded to address the reality of agroterrorism. Legislation

Increasing the level of terrorism preparedness remains a concern, not only for agroterrorism, but also for other forms of terrorism. Several bills were introduced in the 109 th Congress to authorize funding or otherwise improve the level of preparedness or coordination of response to an agroterrorist attack. The Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a report to the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives, not later than February 8, 2007, that—(1) identifies activities being carried out by the Department of Homeland Security to improve—(A) the targeting of agricultural inspections; (B) the ability of United States Customs and Border Protection to adjust to new agricultural threats; and (C) the in-service training for interception of prohibited plant and animal products and agricultural pests under the agriculture quarantine inspection monitoring program of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; and (2) describes the manner in which the Secretary of Homeland Security will coordinate with the Secretary of Agriculture and State and local governments in carrying out the activities described in paragraph (1).
The potential for terrorist attacks against agricultural targets (agroterrorism) is increasingly recognized as a national security threat, especially after the events of September 11, 2001. Agroterrorism is a subset of bioterrorism, and is defined as the deliberate introduction of an animal or plant disease with the goal of generating fear, causing economic losses, and/or undermining social stability.
The goal of agroterrorism is not to kill cows or plants. These are the means to the end of causing economic damage, social unrest, and loss of confidence in government. Human health could be at risk if contaminated food reaches the table or if an animal pathogen is transmissible to humans (zoonotic). While agriculture may not be a terrorist's first choice because it lacks the "shock factor" of more traditional terrorist targets, many analysts consider it a viable secondary target.
Agriculture has several characteristics that pose unique vulnerabilities. Farms are geographically disbursed in unsecured environments. Livestock are frequently concentrated in confined locations, and transported or commingled with other herds. Many agricultural diseases can be obtained, handled, and distributed easily. International trade in food products often is tied to disease-free status, which could be jeopardized by an attack. Many veterinarians lack experience with foreign animal diseases that are eradicated domestically but remain endemic in foreign countries.
In the past five years, "food defense" has received increasing attention in the counterterrorism and bioterrorism communities. Laboratory and response capacity are being upgraded to address the reality of agroterrorism, and national response plans now incorporate agroterrorism.
Congress has held hearings on agroterrorism and enacted laws and appropriations with agroterrorism-related provisions. The executive branch has responded by implementing the new laws, issuing several presidential directives, and creating liaison and coordination offices. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has studied several issues related to agroterrorism.
Appropriations and user fees for agriculture-related homeland security activities in USDA and DHS have more than tripled from a $225 million "pre-September 11" baseline in FY2002 to $818 million in FY2007. Agriculture now receives about 2.1% of the total non-defense budget authority for homeland security.
Increasing the level of agroterrorism preparedness remains a concern, as do interagency coordination and adequate border inspections. The 110th Congress may consider bills or oversight hearings to address funding and the level of preparedness or coordination to respond to an agroterrorist attack.
This report will be updated as events warrant.