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The 2008 Farm Bill: Section 10201 |
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Background
The Farm Bill—H.R. 6124 Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008—became law in June 2008. Section 10201 (“Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention”) directs the Secretary of Agriculture to make available Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds for early plant pest detection and surveillance, for threat identification and mitigation of plant pests and diseases, and for technical assistance in the development and implementation of audit-based certification systems and nursery plant pest risk management systems.
The proposed strategies, goals, actions, timelines, and funding objectives to implement Section 10201 are the subject of this website. APHIS wants to discuss its ideas and fully engage stakeholders in designing a risk-based approach to disburse funds, and to begin work on these new provisions. Implementation of this plan will require an unprecedented level of communication and cooperation from all stakeholders involved in the efforts to safeguard and protect the U.S. plant and agricultural health. The USDA will partner with States, industry, the public, and our peer and sister agencies to meet this challenge.
The implementation plan defines the following key strategies - organized into six major goal areas - to integrate and coordinate plant pest and disease management and disaster prevention activities that will be funded under Section 10201:
- Enhance plant pest/disease analysis and survey
- Target domestic inspection activities at vulnerable points in the safeguarding continuum
- Enhance and strengthen pest identification and technology
- Safeguard nursery production
- Conduct outreach and education to increase public understanding, acceptance, and support of plant pest and disease eradication and control efforts
- Enhance mitigation capabilities