March 29, 2001
The Honorable Ann
Veneman
Secretary U.S.
Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence
Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250
Dear Secretary
Veneman:
Florida greatly appreciates the
effort you and your agency are taking to prevent
the introduction of
Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) into the United States. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
(FDACS) is committed along with USDA towards this critical common goal. Due to the coordinated efforts of
participating personnel, we have been able to identify two areas of opportunity
to improve the overall protocol at the ports of entry.
First, there is an insufficient
number of K‑9 inspection units to efficiently inspect people and parcels
arriving from FMD infected countries.
These amazing animals are by far the most effective means for a quick
inspection process. Any steps to
increase their numbers needs to be taken.
This request for increased numbers of K-9 units for Florida is a long
standing request with the previous administration. I know that you have not had sufficient time since taking office
to address the many issues that face you, but these units are an extremely
effective method of early detection.
Florida has 16 international
airports. With the two major
international airports in the Orlando area, Orlando and Sanford, over 85% of
the tourists arriving are from Europe and the UK. In fact, there are 10 flights daily from Europe and the UK into
Orlando with this number scheduled to increase to 15 in May. Miami has 4 flights daily from Europe and
the UK with many more flights from FMD countries in South America. Miami is authorized 11 K-9 units according
to Dr. Ulysses Lane, AVIC, but has only 4 functioning units. K-9 units have been requested for Orlando
and Tampa but are not available at this time.
Our second area of concern is in the
protocols for garbage and trash disposal.
I am told that several months ago the airports stopped redbagging
certain categories of international garbage. We recommend that all trash and
garbage generated from any flight arriving from a FMD country be collected in
“Red Bags” to go to incineration. It is
quite disconcerting upon visits to the landfills associated with these ports or
entry, we find the non‑incinerated trash readily accessible to Florida’s
feral swine population. We feel this
creates an unwarranted and preventable risk to our animal industry. I feel certain that with the heightened
public awareness in this nation, the airlines will understand this additional
tightening of biosecurity protocol.
I remain concerned that passengers
arriving from farms in FMD infected countries are still being waved through by
Customs particularly in Miami without appropriate clearance by PPQ. We would like to see all arriving passengers
from FMD infected areas required to at least disinfect their shoes and present
their luggage for inspection. We stand
ready to offer additional personnel to assist USDA in this regard.
The extremely infectious and
contagious nature of this viral disease warrants increased proactive
measures. I appreciate your intensified
efforts and that of your agency as we all work together to prevent introduction
of FMD into the United States.
Sincerely,
TERRY
L. RHODES
COMMISSIONER
OF AGRICULTURE