Senate Committee Reports CBP Ag Inspection Bill; Nixes Provision for CBP Agriculture Office
The Senate Homeland Security committee reported on Nov. 26 the Safeguarding American Agriculture Act of 2012, a bill “to enhance agricultural import and entry inspection functions, and for other purposes.” The bill would require creation of a CBP agriculture specialist career track and a CBP-Animal Plant Health and Inspection Service rotation program. But as reported, the bill would not mandate the creation of a CBP Office of Agricultural Inspection, as would have been required by the bill as first introduced. A spokeswoman for Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who chairs the Senate Homeland Security committee, told us the Senator “did not think a CBP Office of Agricultural Inspection advanced the goal of a unified, integrated agency.”
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The bill was introduced in October 2011 as the Safeguarding American Agriculture Act of 2011 by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hi.), in response to concerns of an growing agricultural pest problem. In 2007, the Government Accountability Office reported that agricultural pest interception rates had been declining since transfer of the agricultural inspection function from APHIS to CBP in 2003. Sens. Feinstein (D-Calif.), Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Carper (D-Del.) cosponsored the bill.
Nixes CBP Ag Inspection Office; Still Would Require Career Track, Better Training, CBP-APHIS Rotation
As originally proposed, the bill would have created an Office of Agricultural Inspection at CBP, along with the associated post of Assistant Commissioner for Agricultural Inspection. During committee markup, provisions for the new office were removed from the bill, and the title was amended to reflect the current year. The remaining provisions of the bill were left nearly intact in the version reported to the Senate floor and placed on the legislative calendar, as follows:
Create ag specialist career track. Require CBP to create a comprehensive agriculture specialist career track that ensures that agriculture specialists are provided the training, experience, and assignments necessary for career progression within CBP.
Improve recruitment, retention, equipment. Require CBP to develop plans to improve agriculture specialist recruitment and retention and to make sure agriculture specialists have the necessary equipment and resources to fully and effectively carry out their mission.
Establish CBP -- APHIS rotation agreement. Authorize the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into an agreement to establish an interagency rotation for CBP and APHIS personnel to strengthen critical working relationships and promote interagency experience. The bill as introduced would have required establishment of a rotation “program,” but this language was softened in the reported version.
CBP report on implementation. The bill would also require that CBP report to Congress within 270 days of enactment on the status of implementation, as well as minimum level of resources necessary to effectively carry out its agriculture inspection mission.
(See ITT’s Online Archives 11101311 for summary of the bill, as introduced.)