For Immediate Release 

Office of the Press Secretary 

February 3, 2004 

Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-9 

Subject: Defense of United States Agriculture and Food 

January 30, 2004 

Purpose 

(1) This directive establishes a national policy to defend the agriculture and food system against 

terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies. 

Background 

(2) The United States agriculture and food systems are vulnerable to disease, pest, or poisonous 

agents that occur naturally, are unintentionally introduced, or are intentionally delivered by acts of 

terrorism. Americas agriculture and food system is an extensive, open, interconnected, diverse, 

and complex structure providing potential targets for terrorist attacks. We should provide the best 

protection possible against a successful attack on the United States agriculture and food system, 

which could have catastrophic health and economic effects. 

Definitions 

(3) In this directive: 

(a) The term critical infrastructure has the meaning given to that term in section 1016(e) of the 

USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)). 

(b) The term key resources has the meaning given that term in section 2(9) of the Homeland 

Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101(9)). 

(c) The term Federal departments and agencies means those executive departments enumerated 

in 5 U.S.C. 101, and the Department of Homeland Security; indepen-dent establishments as 

defined by 5 U.S.C. 104(1); Government corporations as defined by 5 U.S.C. 103(1); and the 

United States Postal Service. 

(d) The terms State, and local government, when used in a geographical sense, have the same 

meanings given to those terms in section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101). 

(e) The term Sector-Specific Agency means a Federal department or agency responsible for 

infrastructure protection activities in a designated critical infrastructure sector or key resources 

category. 

Policy 

(4) It is the policy of the United States to protect the agriculture and food system from terrorist 

attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies by: 
(a) identifying and prioritizing sector-critical infrastructure and key resources for establishing 

protection requirements; 

(b) developing awareness and early warning capabilities to recognize threats; 

(c) mitigating vulnerabilities at critical production and processing nodes; 

(d) enhancing screening procedures for domestic and imported products; and 

(e) enhancing response and recovery procedures. 

(5) In implementing this directive, Federal departments and agencies will ensure that homeland 

security programs do not diminish the overall economic security of the United States. 

Roles and Responsibilities 

(6) As established in Homeland Security Presidential Directive-7 (HSPD-7), the Secretary of 

Homeland Security is responsible for coordinating the overall national effort to enhance the 

protection of the critical infrastructure and key resources of the United States. The Secretary of 

Homeland Security shall serve as the principal Federal official to lead, integrate, and coordinate 

implementation of efforts among Federal departments and agencies, State and local 

governments, and the private sector to protect critical infrastructure and key resources. This 

directive shall be implemented in a manner consistent with HSPD-7. 

(7) The Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of the 

Environmental Protection Agency will perform their responsibilities as Sector-Specific Agencies 

as delineated in HSPD-7. 

Awareness and Warning 

(8) The Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, the Administrator of 

the Environmental Protection Agency, and the heads of other appropriate Federal departments 

and agencies shall build upon and expand current monitoring and surveillance programs to: 

(a) develop robust, comprehensive, and fully coordinated surveillance and monitoring systems, 

including international information, for animal disease, plant disease, wildlife disease, food, public 

health, and water quality that provides early detection and awareness of disease, pest, or 

poisonous agents; 

(b) develop systems that, as appropriate, track specific animals and plants, as well as specific 

commodities and food; and 

(c) develop nationwide laboratory networks for food, veterinary, plant health, and water quality 

that integrate existing Federal and State laboratory resources, are interconnected, and utilize 

standardized diagnostic protocols and procedures. 

(9) The Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of Central 

Intelligence, in coordination with the Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and 

the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall develop and enhance intelligence 

operations and analysis capabilities focusing on the agriculture, food, and water sectors. These 

intelligence capabilities will include collection and analysis of information concerning threats, 

delivery systems, and methods that could be directed against these sectors. 
(10) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall coordinate with the Secretaries of Agriculture, 

Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and 

the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies to create a new biological 

threat awareness capacity that will enhance detection and characterization of an attack. This new 

capacity will build upon the improved and upgraded surveillance systems described in paragraph 

8 and integrate and analyze domestic and international surveillance and monitoring data collected 

from human health, animal health, plant health, food, and water quality systems. The Secretary of 

Homeland Security will submit a report to me through the Homeland Security Council within 90 

days of the date of this directive on specific options for establishing this capability, including 

recommendations for its organizational location and structure. 

Vulnerability Assessments 

(11) The Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security shall 

expand and continue vulnerability assessments of the agriculture and food sectors. These 

vulnerability assessments should identify requirements of the National Infrastructure Protection 

Plan developed by the Secretary of Homeland Security, as appropriate, and shall be updated 

every 2 years. 

Mitigation Strategies 

(12) The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General, working with the Secretaries 

of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

Agency, the Director of Central Intelligence, and the heads of other appropriate Federal 

departments and agencies shall prioritize, develop, and implement, as appropriate, mitigation 

strategies to protect vulnerable critical nodes of production or processing from the introduction of 

diseases, pests, or poisonous agents. 

(13) The Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security shall 

build on existing efforts to expand development of common screening and inspection procedures 

for agriculture and food items entering the United States and to maximize effective domestic 

inspection activities for food items within the United States. 

Response Planning and Recovery 

(14) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretaries of Agriculture, 

Health and Human Services, the Attorney General, and the Administrator of the Environmental 

Protection Agency, will ensure that the combined Federal, State, and local response capabilities 

are adequate to respond quickly and effectively to a terrorist attack, major disease outbreak, or 

other disaster affecting the national agriculture or food infrastructure. These activities will be 

integrated with other national homeland security preparedness activities developed under HSPD8 on National Preparedness. 

(15) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretaries of Agriculture, 

Health and Human Services, the Attorney General, and the Administrator of the Environmental 

Protection Agency, shall develop a coordinated agriculture and food-specific standardized 

response plan that will be integrated into the National Response Plan. This plan will ensure a 

coordinated response to an agriculture or food incident and will delineate the appropriate roles of 

Federal, State, local, and private sector partners, and will address risk communication for the 

general public. 

(16) The Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, in coordination with the 

Secretary of Homeland Security and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 

shall enhance recovery systems that are able to stabilize agriculture production, the food supply, 
and the economy, rapidly remove and effectively dispose of contaminated agriculture and food 

products or infected plants and animals, and decontaminate premises. 

(17) The Secretary of Agriculture shall study and make recommendations to the Homeland 

Security Council, within 120 days of the date of this directive, for the use of existing, and the 

creation of new, financial risk management tools encouraging self-protection for agriculture and 

food enterprises vulnerable to losses due to terrorism. 

18) The Secretary of Agriculture, in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, and in 

consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Administrator of the 

Environmental Protection Agency, shall work with State and local governments and the private 

sector to develop: 

(a) A National Veterinary Stockpile (NVS) containing sufficient amounts of animal vaccine, 

antiviral, or therapeutic products to appropriately respond to the most damaging animal diseases 

affecting human health and the economy and that will be capable of deployment within 24 hours 

of an outbreak. The NVS shall leverage where appropriate the mechanisms and infrastructure 

that have been developed for the management, storage, and distribution of the Strategic National 

Stockpile. 

(b) A National Plant Disease Recovery System (NPDRS) capable of responding to a highconsequence plant disease with pest control measures and the use of resistant seed varieties 

within a single growing season to sustain a reasonable level of production for economically 

important crops. The NPDRS will utilize the genetic resources contained in the U.S. National 

Plant Germplasm System, as well as the scientific capabilities of the Federal-State-industry 

agricultural research and extension system. The NPDRS shall include emergency planning for 

the use of resistant seed varieties and pesticide control measures to prevent, slow, or stop the 

spread of a high-consequence plant disease, such as wheat smut or soybean rust. 

Outreach and Professional Development 

(19) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Secretaries of Agriculture, 

Health and Human Services, and the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and 

agencies, shall work with appropriate private sector entities to establish an effective information 

sharing and analysis mechanism for agriculture and food. 

(20) The Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, in consultation with the 

Secretaries of Homeland Security and Education, shall support the development of and promote 

higher education programs for the protection of animal, plant, and public health. To the extent 

permitted by law and subject to availability of funds, the program will provide capacity building 

grants to colleges and schools of veterinary medicine, public health, and agriculture that design 

higher education training programs for veterinarians in exotic animal diseases, epidemiology, and 

public health as well as new programs in plant diagnosis and treatment. 

(21) The Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, in consultation with the 

Secretaries of Homeland Security and Education, shall support the development of and promote 

a higher education program to address protection of the food supply. To the extent permitted by 

law and subject to the availability of funds, the program will provide capacity-building grants to 

universities for interdisciplinary degree programs that combine training in food sciences, 

agriculture sciences, medicine, veterinary medicine, epidemiology, microbiology, chemistry, 

engineering, and mathematics (statistical modeling) to prepare food defense professionals. 

(22) The Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security shall 

establish opportunities for professional development and specialized training in agriculture and 
food protection, such as internships, fellowships, and other post-graduate opportunities that 

provide for homeland security professional workforce needs. 

Research and Development 

(23) The Secretaries of Homeland Security, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services, the 

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the heads of other appropriate 

Federal departments and agencies, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Science and 

Technology Policy, will accelerate and expand development of current and new countermeasures 

against the intentional introduction or natural occurrence of catastrophic animal, plant, and 

zoonotic diseases. The Secretary of Homeland Security will coordinate these activities. This effort 

will include countermeasure research and development of new methods for detection, prevention 

technologies, agent characterization, and dose response relationships for high-consequence 

agents in the food and the water supply. 

(24) The Secretaries of Agriculture and Homeland Security will develop a plan to provide safe, 

secure, and state-of-the-art agriculture biocontainment laboratories that research and develop 

diagnostic capabilities for foreign animal and zoonotic diseases. 

(25) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretaries of Agriculture and 

Health and Human Services, shall establish university-based centers of excellence in agriculture 

and food security. 

Budget 

(26) For all future budgets, the Secretaries of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and 

Homeland Security shall submit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 

concurrent with their budget submissions, an integrated budget plan for defense of the United 

States food system. 

Implementation 

(27) Nothing in this directive alters, or impedes the ability to carry out, the authorities of the 

Federal departments and agencies to perform their responsibilities under law and consistent with 

applicable legal authorities and Presidential guidance. 

(28) This directive is intended only to improve the internal management of the executive branch of 

the Federal Government, and it is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, 

substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against the United States, its 

departments, agencies, or other entities, its officers or employees, or any other person. 

GEORGE W. BUSH 

# # # 

Return to this article at:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/02/20040203-2.html