FEINSTEIN RECONSIDERS AQI AMENDMENT

News Date December 18, 2007

       During the Senate's debate on the farm bill December 14, 2007, Senator Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) considered introducing an amendment to move the Agricultural Quarantine Inspection (AQI) authority from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) back to the Animal & Plant Health Inspection Agency (APHIS). Instead, Feinstein announced, at least for the time being, that she was willing to give the Department of Homeland Security the benefit of the doubt regarding the need to remove the AQI authority from DHS. Feinstein met with Michael Chertoff, secretary of DHS, and subsequently received a letter from him making two more concessions: 1) creating a deputy executive director position for Agricultural Operational Oversight and 2) "reaffirming that the agricultural specialists are to be specifically assigned to agricultural inspection activities and will be dedicated to the mission of protecting the nation's food supply and agricultural industry from pests, diseases and related bio-threats, absent exigent operational circumstances." Feinstein then withdrew her amendment to the farm bill that sought to transfer responsibility for conducting agricultural inspections at all points of entry in the United States from DHS back to APHIS. 
       The senator noted in her news release, "Pest infestations cost the American agriculture industry $41 billion annually.  And in California alone, pest infestations cost farmers about $3 billion a year.  Yet, since the Department of Homeland Security took over responsibility for agriculture inspections in 2003, fewer agricultural inspections have been conducted at key points of entry and the morale of agriculture specialists has been low.   I believe there is a serious problem with agriculture inspections at the Department of Homeland Security.  The causes are many. The stakes are high. The impact is potentially devastating. Here are the problems:
       *  One, agriculture inspections are down.  We know that agriculture inspectors at DHS are being taken off of their jobs 22 percent of the time and assigned other jobs.
       *  Two, pest infestations are up.  California alone has three medfly infestations this year.  And, other states have similar problems. Florida has seen a 29 percent increase in pest outbreaks over the last four years.'
       These two factors combined are endangering our nation's food supply and agriculture industry,' Feinstein said."
       In response to the concerns raised by Congress, NASDA, and others earlier this year, CBP and APHIS' Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) established the APHIS-CBP Joint Task Force on Improved Agriculture Inspection. This task force identified many core recommendations and supported the creation of an advisory board responsible for monitoring oversight and implementation of actions plans. The advisory board has been appointed; however, it has not yet met.  (Contact: Bob Ehart)