William Kanitz
Well-known member
Experts say U.S. needs to better protect nation's food supply from agroterrorism
By MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The United States needs to continue taking steps to protect its food supply from terrorism just as it would its buildings, airports and other infrastructure, FBI deputy director John S. Pistole said.
"The threat from agroterrorism may not be widely recognized, but the threat is real and the impact could be devastating," Pistole said in late September. "The recent E. coli outbreak in California spinach has captured the public attention even without a terror nexus."
Pistole, keynote speaker at the second International Symposium on Agroterrorism, pointed to a nonterrorism example, a single case of BSE disease in the United States in 2003, to illustrate the potential impact.
"Days after the discovery, 53 countries banned U.S. beef imports. The economic loss to the U.S. cattle industry from the loss of beef imports just to Japan was more than $2 billion a year," Pistole said. "Almost three years later, countries have reopened their borders to U.S. beef, but exports still have not reached 2003 levels."
Pistole told about 1,000 delegates from 21 countries attending the four-day symposium that terrorist groups such as al Qaeda have shown interest in U.S. agriculture and could threaten the food supply. He said while there was no "specific communicated threat at this time," the "absence of a communicated threat does not prove the absence of a threat."
The U.S. food and agriculture industry employs about one in eight Americans and is important not only to Americans, but because of its massive exports, to much of the world, Pistole said.
"The bottom line is that agriculture, just like buildings, bridges and tunnels, is a critical infrastructure in need of defense," he said.
Barry Erlick, president of BJE Associates, a scientific and technical consulting firm, said the U.S. food supply faces threats from livestock diseases around the world.
He said there are several animal-borne diseases that occur in livestock overseas and have not been present in U.S. livestock.
But he said terrorists could bring the diseases to the United States.
"An attack on agriculture is about all those things that terrorism is about: fear, tension, cause, disruption and possibly a political statement," he said.
By MARIA SUDEKUM FISHER
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The United States needs to continue taking steps to protect its food supply from terrorism just as it would its buildings, airports and other infrastructure, FBI deputy director John S. Pistole said.
"The threat from agroterrorism may not be widely recognized, but the threat is real and the impact could be devastating," Pistole said in late September. "The recent E. coli outbreak in California spinach has captured the public attention even without a terror nexus."
Pistole, keynote speaker at the second International Symposium on Agroterrorism, pointed to a nonterrorism example, a single case of BSE disease in the United States in 2003, to illustrate the potential impact.
"Days after the discovery, 53 countries banned U.S. beef imports. The economic loss to the U.S. cattle industry from the loss of beef imports just to Japan was more than $2 billion a year," Pistole said. "Almost three years later, countries have reopened their borders to U.S. beef, but exports still have not reached 2003 levels."
Pistole told about 1,000 delegates from 21 countries attending the four-day symposium that terrorist groups such as al Qaeda have shown interest in U.S. agriculture and could threaten the food supply. He said while there was no "specific communicated threat at this time," the "absence of a communicated threat does not prove the absence of a threat."
The U.S. food and agriculture industry employs about one in eight Americans and is important not only to Americans, but because of its massive exports, to much of the world, Pistole said.
"The bottom line is that agriculture, just like buildings, bridges and tunnels, is a critical infrastructure in need of defense," he said.
Barry Erlick, president of BJE Associates, a scientific and technical consulting firm, said the U.S. food supply faces threats from livestock diseases around the world.
He said there are several animal-borne diseases that occur in livestock overseas and have not been present in U.S. livestock.
But he said terrorists could bring the diseases to the United States.
"An attack on agriculture is about all those things that terrorism is about: fear, tension, cause, disruption and possibly a political statement," he said.
