The burgeoning global marketplace has provided the U.S. agricultural economy increased market access opportunities and allowed our farmers and ranchers to share their high quality products with the rest of the world. At the same time, global trade has provided U.S. consumers with greater options in the kind of foods we eat. However, recent news stories confirm that this global marketplace can increase our exposure to foreign diseases and contaminants. It is critical that we remain diligent in our efforts to secure the U.S. food supply, both foreign and domestic, to ensure our consumers have continued access to a healthy, affordable and safe food supply.

“The frequency and size of food-borne outbreaks in the U.S. will likely increase dramatically as more of our food is imported,” notes Dr. Mike Doyle, world-renowned expert on food-borne illness, and director of the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety. Fresh produce, for example, once only available during certain times of the year, is now on America’s tables year round, thanks to global trade.

With these changes come added threats to the safety of our food supply, whether it is from potential terrorist attacks or diseases that may hitch a ride into the U.S. on dust storms, insects or other animals, or travelers returning from holidays abroad. By protecting the health of our agricultural livestock and crops, we are protecting consumers and the food supply of our nation.

Congress must continue to support efforts to bolster food security through oversight of the federal departments charged with protecting the food supply and controlling the introduction of foreign pests and diseases. In addition, it is critical that Congress fully fund and support the critical agricultural security mission areas of the Department of Homeland Security, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture, and other key federal agencies. These efforts must be buttressed with the strong support of both the private industry and the private citizen. A collaborative effort between the public and private sectors is the best model to meet the food security challenges of a global marketplace.

The Department of Homeland Security’s plan to build the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) is an example of the kind of investment this nation needs to ensure the safety of our food and agriculture systems. A modern, secure NBAF would research biological threats involving zoonotic (i.e., diseases transmitted from animals to humans) and foreign animal diseases. It would allow basic research; diagnostic development, testing and validation; advanced countermeasure development; and training for high-consequence livestock diseases — the kind that could deal a serious blow to our agricultural economy.

A decision on where to locate this important new facility is due sometime later this year. The Homeland Security Act of 2002, recognizing that protecting U.S. agriculture is a critical element of homeland security, transferred the current research facility at Plum Island, N.Y., from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Homeland Security. As the missions of these two departments expand to meet the needs of the nation, and the Plum Island facility exhausts its usefulness, it is critical that we replace this aging facility in order to address the nation’s expanding animal research needs and to fully prepare for future needs.

International traffic in food, livestock and poultry represents a significant portion of global trade, providing healthy incomes for rural communities and inexpensive food for the general consumer. Our U.S. farmers and merchants are active participants in the movement of many food products in both directions across our borders, and have been successful at limiting the introduction of many of the diseases common in other areas of the world. As a result, the U.S. livestock industry is among the most economically viable in the world, largely due to the excellent health status of our animals and the resultant high quality of our product.  
Here in the U.S., we have built the world’s finest infrastructure for detecting human disease through entities such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. This system has served the nation — and the world — well in the early detection and control of human diseases — SARS, E. coli O157:H7 and Ebola are prime examples. On the animal health side, however, the U.S. may be falling short.

“In recent years, veterinary school education has focused more on the healthcare of dogs and cats, and much less so on livestock,” says Dr. Corrie Brown, an internationally renowned animal disease expert from the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “While foot-and-mouth disease is regarded as one of the world’s most important livestock diseases, there is a distinct possibility that U.S. veterinarians would fail to immediately recognize it in the field.”

In order to maintain the economic viability of our national agriculture and livestock industry, and to protect consumers, we must build up our nation’s agrosecurity defense capacity. There are several areas in which our federal and state governments, in concert with our academic institutions, should work closely together to increase our capacity to detect disease outbreaks in a timely manner, and to bolster veterinarians and public health officials’ knowledge base of foreign diseases that could be introduced, accidentally or intentionally.

Federal entities such as DHS and CDC have devoted substantial efforts and resources to boost our ability to respond to bioterrorism and protect human health. Through a partnership between USDA and the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine, similar efforts have been directed to the issue of agroterrorism, focusing on the damage that a single terrorist act could inflict on our economy by introducing a disease that would negatively impact our food supply and our agricultural exports.

In the same manner that we have led the world in securing human health, the U.S. must prioritize efforts to secure animal health and the food supply. It is time we realize, as a nation, that these once disparate priorities now complement each other in the growing global economy.

Isakson is a member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. Chambliss is a member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.