THE US government is facing its biggest bureaucratic shake-up in fifty years, with the proposed creation of a new Department of Homeland Security to combat terrorism. But agriculture and health experts are alarmed. They say diverting vital funds and resources to the new department may mean natural outbreaks of disease go unnoticed.
The new department is meant to consolidate the fragmented responsibility for US territorial security, by bringing together bits of different departments in charge of border controls, immigration, customs and transport safety.
Under the proposals, one office that will move to a new home is the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which watches for diseases that could ravage US agriculture. But focusing on counter-terrorism could mean less money is spent on surveillance of natural diseases, Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, told Congressional hearings in Washington DC last week. Other concerns, from wildlife problems to trade in genetically modified crops could also be neglected, he says.
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The service is already underfunded, adds Meg Phipps, Commissioner of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture. And moving existing funds to combat potential terrorist threats, such as the deliberate introduction of foot and mouth disease, would take money away from watching for other pests and diseases that could ruin farmers, such as gypsy moths, citrus canker or BSE.
Similar fears surround proposals to give the new department control of planning for public health emergencies. That could lead to outbreaks of human diseases going unnoticed or undetected, experts say.