Senate Bill Would Elevate Ag Mission at CBP to Better Prevent Pest Entry

(Akaka states that in Hawaii, invasive species and disease threaten to permanently devastate the state's fragile ecosystem. He adds that the invasive Asian Stink bug is ravaging mid-Atlantic crops, often destroying significant portions of apple, peach, blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, tomato, pepper, sweet corn, and soybean harvests. Feinstein notes that California has experienced outbreaks of Asian Citrus Psyllid and European Grapevine Moth, which have damaged orange groves and vineyards, and many other pests are believed to have entered California through its ports of entry.)

Foreign Pests Cost U.S. Economy Tens of Billions Each Year

In 2006, USDA estimated that foreign pests and disease was already costing the U.S. economy tens of billions of dollars annually in lower crop values, eradication programs, emergency payments to farmers, and increased costs for food and other natural resources. The bill’s sponsors also point to a recent study by scientists from U.S. and Canadian universities and the U.S. Forest Service which found invasive wood-boring pests, such as the emerald ash borer beetle, cost homeowners an estimated $830 million a year in lost property values and cost local governments an estimated $1.7 billion a year as a result of damaged trees and woodlands.

Pest Infiltration Said to Be Worse Since Ag Inspection Transfer to CBP

The agricultural inspection function and 1,800 agricultural specialists were transferred from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to CBP in 2003, following the events of September 11, 2001. In a 2006 report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found a decrease in pest interception rates since the transfer of the agricultural inspection function to CBP. (See ITT’s Online Archives 07030299 for summary.)

Recent press reports continue to claim a sharp rise in the number of foreign pests that have gotten into the U.S. since this transfer, saying they went from eight in 1999 to at least 30 in 2010.

Even internal reports have found problems. In August 2011, CBP reported five significant inspection deficiencies that warranted immediate attention at the Long Beach, Detroit, Nassau, Freeport, Nogales, and Port Everglades ports of entry, along with eight quality initiatives to implement at other ports. (See ITT’s Online Archives 11080805 for summary of CBP’s report.)

In addition to the criticism on performance, the GAO and others have reported significant morale issues among transferred agricultural specialists at the agency due to CBP’s focus on terrorism, among other things.

Bill Would Establish Ag Inspection Office, Focus on Training/Keeping Specialists

Senators Akaka and Feinstein state that the Safeguarding American Agriculture Act of 2011 would improve the agricultural inspection operations at U.S. ports as it would:

Establish an Office of Agriculture Inspection - enhance accountability and raise the priority of the agriculture mission by establishing within CBP an Office of Agriculture Inspection led by its own Assistant Commissioner responsible for improving agricultural inspection operations across the U.S.

Create ag specialist career track - require CBP to create a comprehensive agriculture specialist career track that ensures that agriculture specialists are provided the training, experience, and assignments necessary for career progression within CBP.

Improve recruitment, retention, equipment. Require CBP to develop plans to improve agriculture specialist recruitment and retention and to make sure agriculture specialists have the necessary equipment and resources to fully and effectively carry out their mission.

Establish CBP -- APHIS rotation program - authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into an agreement establishing an interagency rotation program for CBP and APHIS personnel to strengthen critical working relationships and promote interagency experience.

(See ITT’s Online Archives 07101905 for summary of a June 2007 CBP-APHIS report which determined that the priority of the agricultural mission at CBP needed to be elevated and better integrated into CBP’s focus on terrorism.)

USDA documents on APHIS and invasive species management available here.

Text of the bill available here.