ADBCAP Director Julie Smith, DVM, PhD, presented a short summary of the Animal Disease Biosecurity Coordinated Agricultural Project (ADBCAP) to members of the Food and Agriculture Sector Joint Coordinating Council—a Homeland Security Coordinating Council—by telephone on April 10, 2019. All members of these councils were welcomed to attend the project symposium on May 15.
The Government Coordinating Council and Sector Coordinating Council collaborate with the US Department of Agriculture, US Department of Health and Human Services, US Food and Drug Administration, US Department of Homeland Security, other government entities and each other to address security and resilience activities and sector-specific issues for the food and agriculture sector. The National Infrastructure Protection Plan recognizes food and agriculture as one of the nation’s 16 critical infrastructure sectors.
The importance of the food and agriculture sector to national security was originally highlighted in 2004 by Homeland Security Presidential Directive-9, which ensured food and agriculture would be recognized among the critical infrastructure and key resources designated for protection that is coordinated by the US Department of Homeland Security.