1. Beef and Pork Biosecurity in the USA
US-Russian Scientific Conference: “MEAT PRODUCTS SAFETY - FROM FARM TO TABLE” The V.M.Gorbatov All-Russian Meat Research Institute, Moscow, April 18-20, 2006 г.
Beef and Pork Biosecurity in the USA
Система анализа рисков и критических контрольных точек (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point systems), или система ХАССП, это, как известно, система обеспечения безопасности пищевых продуктов на всех этапах жизненного цикла, предусматривающая систематическую идентификацию, оценку и управление опасными факторами, существенно влияющими на безопасность продукции. Необходимость создания в России пищевого технического законодательства, гармонизированного с европейскими и международными нормами, — одна из приоритетных задач в рамках построения новой системы технического регулирования Российской Федерации. Основой его должно стать общеевропейское пищевое законодательство (схема). При этом надо учесть, что в 2004 г. Европейский Парламент и Совет Европейского Союза (ЕС), реформируя существенным образом общеевропейское законодательство в этой области, строили его на основе признанной во всем мире системы ХАССП.
Perfecto Santiago, USDA, USA

2. FSIS Food Defense Initiatives
Dr. Perfecto R. Santiago
Deputy Assistant Administrator
Office of Food Defense and Emergency Response
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
United States Department of Agriculture

3. USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
Mission: To ensure meat, poultry and egg products are safe, secure, wholesome and are accurately labeled.
National Infrastructure of 15 districts, 3 laboratories, headquarters staff, and approximately 12,000 total personnel (7,500 field)
Annual Budget: $950 million

4. Office of Food Defense and Emergency Response
Created in August 2002
Mission: Develop, maintain, and coordinate all FSIS activities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from large scale food emergencies or deliberate acts of terrorism affecting the meat, poultry and egg products.
Staff: 25 FT Specialists.

5. Food Defense Goals To prevent an attack or minimize its impact
To respond rapidly and efficiently
To recover quickly and restore consumer confidence in the food supply
To focus activities on greatest risks
Integrate food safety and food defense resources to the extent possible

6. Food Defense Challenges
Food defense as a new and distinct dimension of food safety
Lack of specific statutory authority to mandate security measures
Food security education and training as a new discipline
Vulnerability of multiple nodes in the farm to table continuum to bioterrorism
Integration of surveillance systems of food safety regulatory agencies
Disposal of large quantities of contaminated products
Informing the intelligence community of food threat information
OFSEP, FSIS is confronted by a number of challenges in the pursuit of its mission. First and foremost is that of making all stakeholders recognize food security as a distinct dimension of food safety.

7. Supplementary Authorities
Homeland Security Presidential Directives (12)
Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act (PL , signed June 12, 2002)
Sec. 332 – Expansion of FSIS activities to include protection against bioterrorism.

8. Relevant Homeland Security Presidential Directives
HSPD–3 – Homeland Security Advisory System
HSPD-5 – Management of Domestic Incidents
HSPD-7 – Critical Infrastructure Identification, Prioritization, and Protection.
HSPD-8 – National Preparedness
HSPD-9 – Defense of U.S. Agriculture and Food

9. Food Defense Initiatives
Enhance Response Capabilities
Conduct Vulnerability Assessments and Deploy Countermeasures
Enhance International Security
Conduct Research and Enhance Laboratory Security and Coordination Activities
Conduct Simulation Exercises
Enhance Surveillance Activities
Expand Coordination with Government, Industry, and Public Partners
Develop and Conduct Food Security Guidance Outreach
Develop/Revise Procedures for Threat Levels
Conduct Ongoing Workforce Education and Training

10. Enhance Response Capabilities
Establish the Emergency Management Committee (EMC)
Revise – Emergency Incident Response
Establish Incident Commander and responsibilities
Develop an Incident Action Plan
Include natural disasters as non-routine incidents
Establish a Situation Room for EMC activities
Establish documentation procedures (Non-Routine Incident Report)
Identify lessons learned after each EMC activation/exercise
Ensure delivery of essential functions in emergencies

11. Enhance Response Capabilities
Developing a Directive on Decontamination and Disposal
Developing a list of Subject Matter Experts (SME’s)
Developing State Food Safety and Security Contact Guide and an Integrated State Emergency Contact List for all District Offices

12. Conduct Vulnerability Assessments and Deploy Countermeasures
Conduct/Update Vulnerability Assessments (VA) of domestic and imported Product using CARVER+Shock
8 completed VA’s on domestic and imported foods
Strategic Partnership Program Agroterrorism
Validate completed V A’s
New VA
Identify new technologies as countermeasures for vulnerabilities

13. CARVER
Considers seven factors that affect the attractiveness of a target:
Criticality – Public health and economic impacts to achieve the attacker’s intent
Accessibility – Physical access to the target
Recuperability – Ability of the system to recover from the attack
Vulnerability – Ease of accomplishing the attack
Effect – Amount of direct loss from an attack
Recognizability – Ease of identifying a target
Shock – Combined physical, public health, psychological, and economic effects of an attack

14. Enhance International Security
Hire additional Import Surveillance Liaison Officers (ISLO’s)
Established a Memorandum of Understanding with Customs and Border Protection.
Conduct vulnerability assessment on illegal imports.
Link FSIS with International Trade Data System (ITDS)
Participate in the G8 Meeting of Experts
ISLO– 20 initially hired in March 2003 to work closely with CBP to conduct additional surveillance activities at 139 import warehouses. .

15. Conduct Research and Enhance Laboratory Security and Coordination
Testing emergency response plans of three FSIS laboratories
Co-chairs (with FDA) the Integrated Consortium of Laboratory Networks
Signed an MOU with Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and Aberdeen Laboratories
OPHS -Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) Division
Established a Biosecurity Level 3 Laboratory in Athens, GA.
Conducting research on a number of threat agents.
Planning workshops on VA with APEC countries

16. Conduct Simulation Exercises
(6) State Exercises in 2006 in 6 Districts –Albany,NY., Raleigh,NC.(completed), Madison, WI.,Alameda, CA (completed), Chicago, Ill., Minneapolis, MN.) –
Incident Command System
Non Routine Incident Reporting

17. Enhance Surveillance Activities
Enhanced Consumer Complaint Monitoring System
24/7 operations
Linkage with States
Continue performing food defense verification activities and analyze findings.
Developing the Automated Non-Routine Incident Reporting System (NRIMS)
Developing Food and Agriculture Bio Surveillance Integration System (FABIS) and link to National Integrated Bio Surveillance System (NBIS)
Member of the USDA Intelligence Council
Enhancing coordination with regional, local intelligence community
Analyze food safety samples for threat agents as well.

18. Expand Coordination with Government, Industry and Public Partners
Established an MOU with Customs and Border Protection
Developed a template for food emergency response through a cooperative agreement with National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
Coordinating with Association of Food and Drug Officials on food defense initiatives
Participating in the Strategic Partnership Program Agroterrorism (SPPA) Initiative
Conducting joint exercises with state and local responders on ICS/NRIR systems.
SPPA – with FDA, DHS and FBI to collaborate with states and private industry to protect the nation’s food supply from terrorists threats.

19. Develop Food Security Guidelines and Conduct Outreach Initiatives
Conducted Food Security Awareness Training
Developed Model Food Defense Plans (4)
Conducted workshops on Model Food Security Plans
“Food Security – Make it Your Business”
Puerto Rico Webcast – Dec. 9
Developed Food Security Self-Assessment Checklist
CARVER + Shock Briefings of the Industry
Food Products Association
National Meat Association
United Egg Association
National Chicken Council
Farm Service Agency (FSA)

20. Food Defense Guidelines
Food processors, transporters, distributors, consumers and FSIS employees
Available at:
Part of our outreach efforts, FSIS developed guidelines designed to assist small food processors, shippers, and distributors. These voluntary guidelines provide a list of safety and defense measures that these entities should consider taking to strengthen their food safety and food defense plans.
One of the guidelines is for the establishment to contact their local law enforcement to report suspicious activity.
Similar guidance was also issued for consumers which includes information on safe food handling, keeping foods safe during an emergency and to watch for signs of tampering.
And we recently issued guidance for our employees on their role in homeland security and what to do in the event of a biological, chemical or radiological attack.
These are available in hard copy in English and Spanish—although we have a limited supply at the moment. The processors and transportation guidelines are also available on our web site in Korean, Chinese & Vietnamese.

21. Develop/Revise Procedures for Threat Levels
Updating Agency responses to different threat declaration levels
Revising FSIS Directives
(Rev. 2) – July 20, 2005
Reduce number of food security verification procedures to focus surveillance activities on areas with the highest risks.
EXPANDED FIELD OF SELECTION OF 08S PROCEDURES FROM 5 TO 11
DISCUSSION OF FOOD DEFENSE PLANS AND moi AFTER EACH ONE IS CRITICAL IN SUSTAINING THE VOLUNTARY APPROACH WE ARE PURSUING. ALSO LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE COLLECTION OF BASELINE INFORMATION TO SUPPORT RULEMAKING. PLEASE MAKE SURE MOI GETS TO THE DO!!
NOTE THE SUBTLETIES FOR HANDLING REPEATED BREACHES!!

22. Conduct Workforce Education and Training
Conducted Bio Security Awareness Training
Training of Veterinarians on Foreign Animal Diseases
Developing Advanced Food Defense Training on Weapons of Mass Destruction and Critical Infrastructure Protection
Developing Security Interactive Knowledge Exchange (SIKES)
Incident Command System Training – ICS 100, ICS 200

23. Next Steps..
To sustain the recognition of food defense as a distinct dimension of food safety.
To establish an integrated surveillance database framework that will fuse all existing systems of the agency and link it to a national surveillance database.
To enhance international coordination with partner countries in the protection of critical infrastructures esp. food and agriculture from intentional attacks.
To intensify efforts to control illegal imports
Homeland security roles/responsibilities to be incorporated in the performance plan of all employees under MISSION SUPPORT.

24. Thank you..
QUESTIONS?
Contact Information:
Dr. Perfecto R. Santiago
(201)