 Texas
Agricultural and Natural Resources Summit Initative
presents the
Food and Agricultural Biosecurity:
Everyone's
Responsibility
May 6-7, 2002
Austin, Texas
Austin
Hilton North
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SUMMIT
RESULTS & PUBLICATIONS
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About
the Biosecurity Summit
The events of September
11th and the ensuing attacks with anthrax have greatly heightened public awareness
and concern about the threats to food and agriculture. The safety, integrity,
viability and sustainability of the US food supply are under unappreciated
risks. The possibility of use of biological weapons during the Gulf War, the
planned use of chemical and biological agents by terrorists in Japan's subways,
and a deeper understanding of the former USSR's bio-weapons program, including
agents directed to agriculture, underscore the potential threat of bio-terrorism
to the U.S. population, and its food supply.
The recent outbreak of foot and mouth
disease in Europe and growing concerns about importation of this and "mad-cow
disease" have also sharply increased public concern about either intentional
or unintentional importation of exotic disease to the United States. But these
two disease threats only reveal the tip of the larger iceberg of bioterrorism
that threatens the US food supply. The threat includes other animal diseases
and crop diseases and includes the food chain from harvest to consumption. The
potential loss of public confidence in the safety of the U.S. food supply here
and abroad and the economic and societal costs of present methods for eradication
of such diseases, once introduced, very clearly establish the mandate for research
to provide new science-based methods to prevent and expeditiously deal with
such outbreaks, whether introduced through malicious intent or by accident.
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Summit
Goals and Objectives
The Summit will bring together players
from relevant state and federal leadership and from affected parts of the food
and agriculture system in Texas. It will provide an overall perspective of existing
regulatory, educational, and research agencies in terms of their current responsibilities
and plans as well as the recent actions to reduce the vulnerability of Texas
agriculture to this threat. While the current system provides a functional framework
for dealing with agricultural bioterrorism, it seems clear that there are substantial
opportunities to continue to improve the system to make it more cost effective
through improved planning and use of new technology. The Summit will consider
these options. The products of the Summit will be tailored to be supportive
of the several state initiatives that are planned or underway.
Specifically, the objectives of the
Summit will be to:
• Create increased public awareness
about the threat without a loss of confidence in safety of food supply
• Consider the different strategies
needed for the various parts of the food supply chain from agricultural production
to food processing and distribution
• Provide information about
the state of preparedness to respond to accidental and intentional exposures
• Develop a vision about the
use of modern biology and information technology to improve safety and reduce
vulnerability
• Identify the most important
research, education, and extension needs
• Recommend strategies for planning
and preparations by local, state, and federal governments and industry groups
• Propose development of a Texas
plan as a state-level model for preparedness and timely response to both intentional
acts of bioterrorism and accidental introductions of diseases or toxins
• Offer the opportunity for
establishing appropriate follow-on task forces to further assess and develop
options for dealing with key issues identified by the Summit
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