Animal Disease Surveillance and Detection Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5064 To direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Homeland Secu- rity to establish an interagency task force to examine animal disease transmission, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 13, 2019 Mr. HAGEDORN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Homeland Security, and in addition to the Committee on Agri- culture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish an interagency task force to examine animal disease transmission, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Animal Disease Sur- 4 veillance and Detection Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5064.IH H5064 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5064 IH (1) It is in the national security interest of the 1 United States to prevent foreign animal diseases, 2 such as the deadly African swine fever, from enter- 3 ing our borders, devastating the agricultural econ- 4 omy, and impacting the animal protein and grain 5 producers, which may occur through contaminated 6 meat products and livestock feeds entering United 7 States ports of entry. 8 (2) To prevent foreign animal diseases from en- 9 tering United States borders, the Secretary of Agri- 10 culture and the Secretary of Homeland Security 11 need to maximize interagency coordination to inspect 12 all international shipments and travel via airplane 13 and/or ship from countries identified by the World 14 Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and/or Food 15 and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 16 (3) Adequate resources should be provided by 17 the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of 18 Homeland Security to conduct inspections at the 19 ports of entry for incoming raw food products, raw 20 processed, and finished meat products, or goods 21 used in agriculture, including livestock feeds and 22 feed ingredients. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5064.IH H5064 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5064 IH SEC. 3. INCREASING SURVEILLANCE OF AND INSPECTIONS 1 FOR ANIMAL DISEASE TRANSMISSION. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE 3 TO INCREASE SURVEILLANCE OF AND INSPECTIONS FOR 4 ANIMAL DISEASE TRANSMISSION.—The Secretary of Ag- 5 riculture, acting through the Under Secretary of Mar- 6 keting and Regulatory Programs (in this Act referred to 7 as the ‘‘Under Secretary’’), and the Secretary of Home- 8 land Security, acting through the Commissioner of U.S. 9 Customs and Border Protection (in this Act referred to 10 as the ‘‘Commissioner’’), shall establish an interagency 11 task force to provide recommendations— 12 (1) for inspection requirements for flights and 13 shipments arriving in the United States from af- 14 fected countries for contaminated processed or raw 15 food products, raw processed, and finished meat 16 products, or goods used in agriculture, including 17 livestock feeds and feed ingredients; 18 (2) to enhance detection protocols of African 19 swine fever in case of outbreak; and 20 (3) to report quarterly on the number of 21 stopped shipments, what was contained in the ship- 22 ment, intended use of products in the shipments, 23 and what was the origin and end location of stopped 24 shipments. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5064.IH H5064 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5064 IH (b) ADDITIONAL U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PRO- 1 TECTION PERSONNEL AT PORTS OF ENTRY.— 2 (1) AGRICULTURE SPECIALISTS.—The Commis- 3 sioner shall, each fiscal year, hire, train, and assign 4 not fewer than 240 new agriculture specialists above 5 the attrition level for the immediately preceding fis- 6 cal year until the total number of agriculture spe- 7 cialists equals and sustains the requirements identi- 8 fied each year in the Agriculture Resource Allocation 9 Model. 10 (2) MISSION AND OPERATIONAL SUPPORT 11 STAFF.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner 13 shall hire, train, and assign support staff to 14 support agriculture specialists. 15 (B) AGRICULTURE TECHNICIANS.—The 16 Commissioner shall, each fiscal year, hire, train, 17 and assign not fewer than 200 new agriculture 18 technicians until the total number of agriculture 19 technicians equals and sustains the require- 20 ments identified each year in the Mission and 21 Operational Support Resource Allocation Model. 22 (3) AGRICULTURE CANINE TEAMS.—The Com- 23 missioner shall hire, train, and assign not fewer than 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5064.IH H5064 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5064 IH 20 new agriculture canine teams for each of fiscal 1 years 2021 through 2022. 2 (4) TRAFFIC FORECASTS.—In calculating the 3 number of agriculture specialists needed at each port 4 of entry, the Commissioner shall— 5 (A) rely on data collected by U.S. Customs 6 and Border Protection personnel at each such 7 port of entry with respect to inspections and 8 other related activities, including data with re- 9 spect to African swine fever; 10 (B) rely on data collected by U.S. Depart- 11 ment of Agriculture office of Smuggling Inter- 12 diction and Trade Compliance; and 13 (C) consider volume from seasonal surges, 14 other projected changes in commercial and pas- 15 senger volumes, the most current commercial 16 forecasts, and other relevant information. 17 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date 18 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture, 19 acting through the Under Secretary and the Secretary of 20 Homeland Security, acting through the Commissioner, 21 shall jointly submit to Congress a report on the following: 22 (1) The efforts of the interagency task force es- 23 tablished under subsection (a) to increase detection 24 and prevention activities with respect to African 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5064.IH H5064 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5064 IH swine fever, including the number of flights and 1 shipments inspected. 2 (2) The enhancement of detection capabilities 3 described under subsection (a)(1). 4 (3) The number of new U.S. Customs and Bor- 5 der Protection personnel hired pursuant to sub- 6 section (b). 7 (4) Educational plans to inform the public on 8 affected countries, current testing protocols, and 9 food safety issues of the disease. 10 (5) Current regulatory overlaps that help or 11 deter detection and prevention of the disease. 12 (6) Overview of importing/exporting countries 13 sanitary and phytosanitary measures that pose a 14 high risk of transmitting this disease. 15 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 16 (1) U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION 17 AGRICULTURE SPECIALISTS.—There is authorized to 18 be appropriated to carry out subsection (b)(1)— 19 (A) $36,100,000 for fiscal year 2021; and 20 (B) $40,500,000 for fiscal year 2022. 21 (2) U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION 22 AGRICULTURE TECHNICIAN.—There is authorized to 23 be appropriated to carry out subsection (b)(2)— 24 (A) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5064.IH H5064 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5064 IH (B) $38,000,000 for fiscal year 2022. 1 (3) U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION 2 AGRICULTURE CANINE TEAMS.—There is authorized 3 to be appropriated to carry out subsection (b)(3)— 4 (A) $7,400,000 for fiscal year 2021; and 5 (B) $12,200,000 for fiscal year 2022. 6 (4) TRAINING.—There is authorized to be ap- 7 propriated for training costs associated with new 8 personnel and canine teams hired pursuant to para- 9 graphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (b) 10 $6,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021, 2022, 11 and 2023. 12 (e) AFFECTED COUNTRY DEFINED.—In this section, 13 the term ‘‘affected country’’ means a country identified 14 by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and/ 15 or Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as having 16 an outbreak of African swine fever. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 Nov 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5064.IH H5064 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with BILLS