By JANE HOUIN
Ohio Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Moving agricultural import inspection functions from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) back to the USDA would more effectively protect U.S. agriculture and the nation’s food supply from intentional and accidental threats, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

That’s one reason the organization is supporting Senate Bill 887, legislation that would move agricultural import inspection functions from the DHS back to USDA.

Following passage of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, inspection activities of the Department of the Treasury’s Customs Service, the Department of Justice’s Immigration and Naturalization Service and USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service were combined in DHS’s Customs and Border Inspections program.

A 2006 Governmental Accountability Office report said, since USDA transferred responsibility for port inspections to DHS, fewer agricultural inspections have been conducted at key points of entry, AFBF told the full Senate in a letter.

“Inspection rates decreased in Miami by 12.7 percent, in Boston by 17.9 percent and in San Francisco by 21.4 percent,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman.

In addition, according to the GAO report 60 percent of agricultural inspection specialists believed they were doing either “somewhat” or “many fewer” inspections since functions were transferred to DHS.

“Farm Bureau advocates strong safeguards to secure U.S. agriculture and the food supply from both intentional and accidental threats,” Stallman said. “We believe that APHIS is the most knowledgeable and best-equipped agency to handle inspection services at all U.S. ports of entry.”

Senate Bill 887 was introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs but has not yet been scheduled for debate. Co-sponsors of the bill include Sen. Barbara Boxer, also a Democrat from California, as well as Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.).

“Inspections are the first line of defense against exotic pests. Yet inspections have dropped dramatically since responsibility has been vested with the Department of Homeland Security,” Sen. Feinstein said. “It is time to put USDA back in charge of inspections and ensure that keeping these pests out remains a top priority.”

The USDA estimates that agricultural pests cost the U.S. agricultural industry $41 billion annually.

“Once these pests and diseases have entered the country, it is very difficult and expensive to control the damage. The best way to prevent damage to our crops is to stop agricultural pests from entering our country in the first place,” Feinstein said.

“When inspection rates at key American points of entry decrease, the threat of infestation dramatically increases. We owe it to the American people to make sure our government is doing all it can to control the spread of invasive species,” said Durbin.

Earlier this month, he issued a call for his congressional colleagues to join him in an effort to increase funding for the foods program at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“Recent recalls of spinach, peanut butter, and most recently pet food, have exposed serious gaps in the FDA’s ability to safeguard our food supply,” Durbin said.

“Food-borne illness is a drag on productivity and economic activity and is a threat to public health in this country.”

Durbin said FDA’s food program budget has not kept up with its increasing responsibilities, citing a decline in the program’s level of full-time employees from 3,082 in FY04 to 2,613 in FY07.

“This decline has coincided with a period of time in which the value of agricultural imports has increased dramatically from $45.6 billion in FY03 to $64 billion in FY06,” Durbin said.

“In my view, shortfalls in FDA’s funding keep it from successfully fulfilling its mission.

“Without decisive action, our food supply will continue to be at risk for widespread recalls like we’ve seen in the recent past.”