PUBLIC LAW 107–9—MAY 24, 2001 115 STAT. 11

Public Law 107–9

107th Congress

An Act

To establish a Federal interagency task force for the purpose of coordinating actions

to prevent the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (commonly known

as ‘‘mad cow disease’’) and foot-and-mouth disease in the United States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Animal Disease Risk Assessment,

Prevention, and Control Act of 2001’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

(1) it is in the interest of the United States to maintain

healthy livestock herds;

(2) managing the risks of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine

spongiform encephalopathy, and related diseases in the United

States may require billions of dollars for remedial activities

by consumers, producers, and distributors of livestock and

animal and blood products;

(3) the potential introduction of those diseases into the

United States would cause devastating financial losses to—

(A) the agriculture industry and other economic sectors;

and

(B) United States trade in the affected animals and

animal products;

(4) foot-and-mouth disease is a severe and highly contagious

viral infection affecting cattle, deer, goats, sheep, swine, and

other animals;

(5) the most effective means of eradicating foot-and-mouth

disease is by the slaughter of affected animals;

(6) while foot-and-mouth disease was eradicated in the

United States in 1929, the virus could be reintroduced by—

(A) a single infected animal, an animal product, or

a person carrying the virus;

(B) an act of terrorism; or

(C) other means;

(7) once introduced, foot-and-mouth disease can spread

quickly through—

(A) exposure to aerosols from infected animals;

(B) direct contact with infected animals; and

(C) contact with contaminated feed, equipment, or

humans harboring the virus or carrying the virus on their

clothing;

Animal Disease

Risk Assessment,

Prevention, and

Control Act of

2001.

May 24, 2001

[S. 700]

115 STAT. 12 PUBLIC LAW 107–9—MAY 24, 2001

(8) foot-and-mouth disease is endemic to more than 2⁄3

of the world and is considered to be widespread in parts of

Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America;

(9) foot-and-mouth disease occurs in over 7 different

serotypes and 60 subtypes;

(10) as foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks have occurred,

the United States has banned the importation of live ruminants

and swine and many animal products from countries affected

by foot-and-mouth disease;

(11) recently, the United States has implemented bans

in response to outbreaks in Argentina, the European Union,

and Taiwan;

(12) although United States exclusion programs have been

successful at keeping foot-and-mouth disease out of the United

States since 1929, recent outbreaks in Argentina, the European

Union, and Taiwan are placing an unprecedented strain on

our animal health system;

(13) bovine spongiform encephalopathy is a transmissible,

neuro-degenerative disease found in cattle;

(14) in cattle with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the

active agent is found primarily in the brain and spinal cord

and has not been found in commonly consumed beef products;

(15) bovine spongiform encephalopathy is thought to have

an incubation period of several years but is ultimately fatal

to cattle within weeks of onset of the active disease;

(16) bovine spongiform encephalopathy was first widely

found in 1986 in cattle in the United Kingdom;

(17) bovine spongiform encephalopathy-carrying cattle have

been found in cattle in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany,

Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,

Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland;

(18) cattle infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy

originating from the United Kingdom have been found and

intercepted in Canada;

(19) since 1989, the Secretary of Agriculture has prohibited

the importation of live grazing animals from countries where

bovine spongiform encephalopathy has been found in cattle;

(20) other products derived from grazing animals, such

as blood meal, bonemeal, fat, fetal bovine serum, glands, meatand-bone meal, and offal, are prohibited from entry, except

under special conditions or under permits issued by the Secretary of Agriculture for scientific or research purposes;

(21) on December 12, 1997, the Secretary of Agriculture

extended those restrictions to include all countries in Europe

because of concerns about widespread risk factors and inadequate surveillance for bovine spongiform encephalopathy;

(22) on December 7, 2000, the Secretary of Agriculture

prohibited all imports of rendered animal protein products from

Europe;

(23) Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease is a human spongiform

encephalopathy;

(24) on March 20, 1996, the Spongiform Encephalopathy

Advisory Committee of the United Kingdom announced the

identification of 10 cases of a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jacob

disease;

(25) all 10 patients developed onsets of the disease in

1994 or 1995;

PUBLIC LAW 107–9—MAY 24, 2001 115 STAT. 13

(26) scientific experts (including scientists at the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health and Human

Services, and the World Health Organization) are studying

the possible link (including potential routes of transmission)

between bovine spongiform encephalopathy and variant

Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease;

(27) from October 1996 to December 2000, 87 cases of

variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease have been reported in the

United Kingdom, 3 cases in France, and 1 case in Ireland;

and

(28) to reduce the risk of human spongiform encephalopathies in the United States, the Commissioner of Food and

Drugs has—

(A) banned individuals who lived in Great Britain for

at least 180 days since 1980 from donating blood in the

United States; and

(B) established regulations that prohibit the feeding

of most animal-derived proteins to grazing animals.

(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide the people

of the United States and Congress with information concerning—

(1) actions by Federal agencies to prevent foot-and-mouth

disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and related diseases;

(2) the sufficiency of legislative authority to prevent or

control foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and related diseases in the United States;

(3) the economic impacts associated with the potential

introduction of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform

encephalopathy, and related diseases into the United States;

and

(4) the risks to public health from possible links between

bovine spongiform encephalopathy and other spongiform

encephalopathies to human illnesses.

SEC. 3. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

(a) PRELIMINARY REPORT.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the date

of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall

submit to the committees and subcommittees described in paragraph (2) a preliminary report concerning—

(A) coordinated interagency activities to assess, prevent, and control the spread of foot-and-mouth disease

and bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the United

States;

(B) sources of information from the Federal Government available to the public on foot-and-mouth disease

and bovine spongiform encephalopathy; and

(C) any immediate needs for additional legislative

authority, appropriations, or product bans to prevent the

introduction of foot-and-mouth disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy into the United States.

(2) SUBMISSION OF REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary

shall submit the preliminary report to—

(A) the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives;

(B) the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate;

Deadline.

115 STAT. 14 PUBLIC LAW 107–9—MAY 24, 2001

(C) the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and

(D) the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies

of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

(b) FINAL REPORT.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the date

of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall

submit to the committees and subcommittees described in subsection (a)(2) a final report that—

(A) discusses the economic impacts associated with

the potential introduction of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine

spongiform encephalopathy, and related diseases into the

United States;

(B) discusses the potential risks to public and animal

health from foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform

encephalopathy, and related diseases; and

(C) provides recommendations to protect the health

of animal herds and citizens of the United States from

those risks including, if necessary, recommendations for

additional legislation, appropriations, or product bans.

(2) CONTENTS.—The report shall contain—

(A) an assessment of the risks to the public presented

by the potential presence of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine

spongiform encephalopathy, and related diseases in

domestic and imported livestock, livestock and animal products, wildlife, and blood products;

(B) recommendations to reduce and manage the risks

of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and related diseases;

(C) any plans of the Secretary to identify, prevent,

and control foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform

encephalopathy, and related diseases in domestic and

imported livestock, livestock products, wildlife, and blood

products;

(D) a description of the incidence and prevalence of

foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy,

variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and related diseases in

other countries;

(E) a description and an analysis of the effectiveness

of the measures taken to assess, prevent, and control the

risks of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and related

diseases in other countries;

(F) a description and an analysis of the effectiveness

of the measures that the public, private, and nonprofit

sectors have taken to assess, prevent, and control the risk

of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and related diseases in the United States,

including controls of ports of entry and other conveyances;

(G) a description of the measures taken to prevent

and control the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy

and variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease transmission

through blood collection and transfusion;

Deadline.

PUBLIC LAW 107–9—MAY 24, 2001 115 STAT. 15

(H) a description of any measures (including any

planning or managerial initiatives such as interagency,

intergovernmental, international, and public-private sector

partnerships) that any Federal agency plans to initiate

or continue to assess, prevent, and control the spread of

foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy,

variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and related diseases in

the United States and other countries;

(I) plans by Federal agencies (including the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention)—

(i) to monitor the incidence and prevalence of the

transmission of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and related diseases in the United States; and

(ii) to assess the effectiveness of efforts to

prevent and control the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, variant

Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and related diseases in the

United States;

(J) plans by Federal agencies (including the Agricultural Research Service, the Cooperative State Research,

Education, and Extension Service, and the National

Institutes of Health) to carry out, in partnership with the

private sector—

(i) research programs into the causes and mechanism of transmission of foot-and-mouth disease and

bovine spongiform encephalopathy; and

(ii) diagnostic tools and preventive and therapeutic

agents for foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform

encephalopathy, variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and

related diseases;

(K) plans for providing appropriate compensation for

affected animals in the event of the introduction of footand-mouth disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or

related diseases into the United States; and

(L) recommendations to Congress for legislation that

will improve efforts to assess, prevent, or control the transmission of foot-and-mouth disease, bovine spongiform

encephalopathy, variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and

related diseases in the United States and in other countries.

(c) CONSULTATION.—

(1) PRELIMINARY REPORT.—In preparing the preliminary

report under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with—

(A) the Secretary of the Treasury;

(B) the Secretary of Commerce;

(C) the Secretary of State;

(D) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;

(E) the Secretary of Defense;

(F) the United States Trade Representative;

(G) the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and

(H) representatives of other appropriate Federal agencies;

(2) FINAL REPORT.—In preparing the final report under

subsection (b), the Secretary shall consult with—

(A) the individuals listed in paragraph (1);

115 STAT. 16 PUBLIC LAW 107–9—MAY 24, 2001

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 700:

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 147 (2001):

Apr. 5, considered and passed Senate.

May 9, considered and passed House.

WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 37 (2001):

May 24, Presidential statement.

Æ

(B) private and nonprofit sector experts in infectious

disease, research, prevention, and control;

(C) international, State, and local governmental animal

health officials;

(D) private, nonprofit, and public sector livestock

experts;

(E) representatives of blood collection and distribution

entities; and

(F) representatives of consumer and patient organizations and other interested members of the public.

Approved May 24, 2001.