GAO: CBP needs more focus on agricultural trade

GAO: CBP needs more focus on agricultural trade A congressional watchdog agency told House lawmakers on Wednesday that Customs and Border Protection must still do more to protect the $1 trillion U.S. agricultural industry from terrorist acts.
   'The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 heightened concerns about agriculture's vulnerability to terrorism, including the deliberate introduction of livestock, poultry and crop diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza,' testified Lisa Shames, director of natural resources and environment for the Government Accountability Office, before the House Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture.
   The GAO praised CBP, which absorbed agriculture inspection functions from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in March 2003 as part of the 2002 Homeland Security Act, for developing a national standard for agricultural training, offering the Automated Commercial System to agriculture inspectors at the ports, and establishing a joint review process with USDA to assess compliance of the agricultural quarantine inspection (AQI) program on a port-to-port basis. CBP has created new agricultural liaison positions at the field office level to advise regional port directors on agricultural issues.
   However, a GAO survey of agricultural specialists found that 'many believed the agriculture inspection mission had been compromised by the transfer.'
   Many specialists said they found diminished priority given to agriculture inspections and 'problems with the CBP chain of command.' Sufficient training and adequate equipment and supplies were a concern. CBP was also criticized for allowing the agricultural canine program to deteriorate.
   'Based on private and public sector experiences with mergers, these morale issues are not unexpected because employees often worry about their place in the new organization,' Shames noted in the summary of her testimony.
   While the GAO acknowledged that it had not yet analyzed several recent agriculture inspection program improvements by CBP, such as new performance measures to track interceptions of pests and quarantines at ports of entry, the agency said CBP must adopt better ways to monitor AQI's overall effectiveness and develop a risk-based staffing model.
   In addition, CBP must fill agricultural specialist vacancies among its ranks. As of mid-August, CBP had 2,116 agriculture specialists on staff, compared with 3,154 specialists needed, according to the agency's staffing model.