Panic Impacts Crop Duster Industry

In late September, U.S. concern rose with the disclosure that the suspected hijackers had learned to fly crop dusters, suggesting the possibility of spreading deadly germs or chemicals. 1Two recent incidents in Mississippi caused further concerns about the use of crop dusters although in both cases, FBI disclosed that they were the results of simple misunderstandings. The first incident involved an agricultural aircraft that flew over a tugboat navigating the Mississippi River near Rosedale, Mississippi, on October 19. It was verified that the agricultural aircraft did not release any chemical during the operation. 2On October 22, the second incident happened near Natchez, Mississippi, 3 in which newly assigned Coast Guard personnel erroneously reported that a “crop duster” plane flew over the Coast Guard Station and left a white residue on the ground. The FBI's investigation revealed that it was a private aircraft without any connection to agricultural aviation and that the white residue in the Coast Guard Station was a common substance disseminated from a nearby paper processing plant. 4

Since the September 11 attacks, all agricultural aircraft in the U.S. have been grounded on three occasions, and recently, have been allowed to operate within 30 miles of major airports. 5The National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA), a trade organization for owners of aerial application businesses, pilots, manufacturers of airplanes and those in related businesses, stated that these misunderstandings have been harmful to the agricultural aviation industry and to the farmers and communities that the industry serves. 6The organization estimated that the industry's revenue loss since September 11 has been about $40 million. 7

Currently, the NAAA reminds all agricultural aircraft operators to maintain and where necessary, improve aircraft and operations security. The NAAA recommends that: 8

•  Aircraft and crop protection products be stored in locked hangers with electronic security systems (i.e. enhanced security lightning and alarms)

•  Operators establish contact with federal and local law enforcement agencies to coordinate responses to security breaches at agricultural aviation facilities

•  All chemicals be securely stored and monitored

Questions on Food Safety

Concerned that the nation's food supply could be the next target of bioterrorism, Congress is considering giving more authority to federal agencies to increase food inspections and to check food distribution channels. Experts particularly point out that potential terrorist targets include raw fruits and vegetables that receive little inspection and cattle that could be infected with the foot-and-mouth disease. Recently, the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) proposed a $3.1 billion biosecurity plan that exceeds the Bush Administration's request for $106 million in emergency spending for food and agriculture security. 9

Responsibilities of the government's food inspection system is divided between the Food and Drug a dministration (FDA, an agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). FDA, responsible for safeguarding nearly all foods except meat and poultry, has 750 inspectors to check 55,000 food plants. FDA wants to hire more than 400 new food inspectors, lab specialists and other personnel to check fruits, vegetable and other products (especially imports) and to buy additional equipment to detect pathogens. The USDA has approximately 7,500 inspectors for 6,000 facilities across the nation. At a meeting with Republican lawmakers on October 25, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman stated that “…[the USDA] has been looking at where the critical points are and taking all the precautions that [the agency] can in dealing with the private sector.” 10Also, the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association stated that the produce industry was aware of the threat of bioterrorism and that produce growers and distributors formed a task force to examine the industry's security. 11

Production of Smallpox Vaccine

On October 25, Secretary Thompson announced that production of smallpox vaccine was expected to begin by late November or early December. The original contract was signed in fall 2000 between the HHS and Acambis (a U.S. subsidiary of the British drugmaker Acambis PLC) as part of a program to stockpile drugs against the threat of bioterrorism. 12Originally, Acambis contracted to deliver 40 million doses by 2004; however, the company recently agreed to provide 54 million doses by the end of 2002. 13Moreover, HHS officials have been reviewing ten proposals from other companies that offered to produce an additional 250 million doses of vaccine. Secretary Thompson, who already has asked Congress for $509 million to accelerate the production of the smallpox vaccine, expects that the federal government plans to have more than 300 million doses available in twelve months. 14

___________________________________