National Agriculture and Food Defense Strategy

21 U.S.C. § 2202

• Title: 21 — Food and Drugs
• Chapter: SUBCHAPTER I—IMPROVING CAPACITY TO PREVENT FOOD SAFETY PROBLEMS

Text

(a) Development and submission of strategy
Not later than 1 year after January 4, 2011, the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall prepare and transmit to the relevant committees of Congress, and make publicly available on the Internet Web sites of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture, the National Agriculture and Food Defense Strategy.
The strategy shall include an implementation plan for use by the Secretaries described under paragraph (1) in carrying out the strategy.
The strategy shall include a coordinated research agenda for use by the Secretaries described under paragraph (1) in conducting research to support the goals and activities described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b).
Not later than 4 years after the date on which the strategy is submitted to the relevant committees of Congress under paragraph (1), and not less frequently than every 4 years thereafter, the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall revise and submit to the relevant committees of Congress the strategy.
The strategy described in paragraph (1) shall be consistent with—
(A) the National Incident Management System;
(B) the National Response Framework;
(C) the National Infrastructure Protection Plan;
(D) the National Preparedness Goals; and
(E) other relevant national strategies.
(b) Components
The strategy shall include a description of the process to be used by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Homeland Security—
(A) to achieve each goal described in paragraph (2); and
(B) to evaluate the progress made by Federal, State, local, and tribal governments towards the achievement of each goal described in paragraph (2).
The strategy shall include a description of the process to be used by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Homeland Security to achieve the following goals:
Enhance the preparedness of the agriculture and food system by—
(i) conducting vulnerability assessments of the agriculture and food system;
(ii) mitigating vulnerabilities of the system;
(iii) improving communication and training relating to the system;
(iv) developing and conducting exercises to test decontamination and disposal plans;
(v) developing modeling tools to improve event consequence assessment and decision support; and
(vi) preparing risk communication tools and enhancing public awareness through outreach.
Improve agriculture and food system detection capabilities by—
(i) identifying contamination in food products at the earliest possible time; and
(ii) conducting surveillance to prevent the spread of diseases.
Ensure an efficient response to agriculture and food emergencies by—
(i) immediately investigating animal disease outbreaks and suspected food contamination;
(ii) preventing additional human illnesses;
(iii) organizing, training, and equipping animal, plant, and food emergency response teams of—
(I) the Federal Government; and
(II) State, local, and tribal governments;
(iv) designing, developing, and evaluating training and exercises carried out under agriculture and food defense plans; and
(v) ensuring consistent and organized risk communication to the public by—
(I) the Federal Government;
(II) State, local, and tribal governments; and
(III) the private sector.
Secure agriculture and food production after an agriculture or food emergency by—
(i) working with the private sector to develop business recovery plans to rapidly resume agriculture, food production, and international trade;
(ii) conducting exercises of the plans described in subparagraph (C) with the goal of long-term recovery results;
(iii) rapidly removing, and effectively disposing of—
(I) contaminated agriculture and food products; and
(II) infected plants and animals; and
(iv) decontaminating and restoring areas affected by an agriculture or food emergency.
The Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall—
(A) develop metrics to measure progress for the evaluation process described in paragraph (1)(B); and
(B) report on the progress measured in subparagraph (A) as part of the National Agriculture and Food Defense strategy described in subsection (a)(1).
(c) Limited distribution
In the interest of national security, the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, may determine the manner and format in which the National Agriculture and Food Defense strategy established under this section is made publicly available on the Internet Web sites of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Agriculture, as described in subsection (a)(1).

History

(Pub. L. 111–353, title I, §108, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3910.)

Editorial Notes

Editorial Notes

References in Text
The Secretary, referred to in subsec. (b)(3), probably means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.