Homeland Security: Management and Coordination Problems Increase the Vulnerability of U.S. Agriculture to Foreign Pests and Disease

DHS and USDA formed a Joint Data Analysis group that meets quarterly to share and review data on agricultural quarantine inspection performance measures. DHS initiated two new performance measures for the agriculture mission: 1) number of pests intercepted at ports of entry, and (2) number of quarantine material interceptions seized at ports of entry. The performance measures are linked to the DHS's strategic plan, as well as to the strategic plan for DHS's Customs and Border Protection. The performance measures also facilitate USDA's ability to conduct and provide pest risk assessments.

USDA formed a Joint Data Analysis group with DHS that meets quarterly to share and review data on agricultural quarantine inspection performance measures. The agencies developed two new performance measures for the agricultural mission: (1) number of pest interceptions at ports of entry; and (2) number of quarantine material interceptions seized at ports of entry. The performance measures are also designed to facilitate USDA's ability to conduct and provide pest risk assessments.

DHS developed an optimal staffing allocation model for Customs and Border Protection's Officers and Agriculture Specialists at ports of entry. The 2007 model addresses staffing needs and adjusts to changes in workload, processing time, complexity and threat levels. The model showed that several thousand additional Officers and Agricultural Specialists would be needed at ports of entry. In addition, DHS and USDA established a joint Trend Analysis Working Group to analyze and predict the highest risk areas in the cargo pathways.

USDA used its existing staffing model as a starting point for discussions with DHS, and the agencies worked together to modify the model to meet DHS's needs. The 2007 staffing model that resulted showed that DHS would need several thousand additional Customs and Border Protection Officers and Agricultural Specialists at ports of entry. In addition, the agencies established a joint Trend Analysis Working Group to analyze and predict the highest risk areas in the cargo pathways.

Working with USDA, DHS's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) developed the agricultural inspection intranet Web site as a ready reference for its Agriculture Specialists. The Web site is a depository for all musters, alerts, and links to USDA manuals, updates, and monthly reports from field offices, as well as for other information such as vessel garbage violations and gypsy moth alerts. Once it receives alerts from USDA, CBP's Agriculture Programs Liaison office sends them the same day to CBP's field office directors for dissemination to Agriculture Specialists in the field.

USDA clarified the contact points in DHS's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for effective communication of urgent agriculture alerts initiated by USDA. In turn, CBP implemented a policy to disseminate all USDA alerts to its field offices and ports of entry within 24 hours of receipt at CBP headquarters. USDA has also provided electronic copies of its manuals to CBP, which are now available on a CBP's agricultural inspection intranet Web site as ready references for its staff.

DHS's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) hired an Agriculture Specialist with canine experience to work with CBP's Canine Enforcement Program (CEP), and a Program Manager to focus on recruiting new Agriculture Specialists to the canine program. Together, CBP and USDA's National Detector Dog Training Center established joint standard operating procedures that govern CBP Agriculture Specialists while attending Basic Canine Officer Training at the Center. In addition, the CEP Program Manager serves as the dedicated class coordinator at the Center and briefs all new and returning students on canine policies.

USDA's National Detector Dog Training Center worked with DHS's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to complete joint standard operating procedures for CBP Agriculture Specialist Canine Training. These procedures govern specialists attending the Basic Canine Officer Training Program at the Center. In addition, USDA worked with CBP's Canine Enforcement Program to review, revise, and develop policies and procedures regarding training and staffing of agriculture canine teams.

DHS's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revised and validated its agricultural quarantine inspection program costs as an input for USDA to use in setting related user fees. USDA considered these costs when it issued a new rule to adjust the user fee rates, in effect for fiscal year 2011. Effective November 1, 2009, USDA also increased the fees charged for certain agricultural quarantine inspection services. USDA had last adjusted these fees on January 1, 2005, due to the need for increased inspections because of heightened security following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The user fees cover services provided for commercial vessels, trucks, rail cars, and aircraft, as well as for international airline passengers, arriving at U.S. ports of entry. Despite decreases in travel volume and associated fees, inspections and other related support services paid for by these fees have remained the same due to the continued risk of the deliberate or accidental introduction of pests and diseases into the United States. Thus, USDA increased the fees approximately 10 percent for commercial vehicles and international air passengers.

Effective November 1, 2009, USDA increased fees charged for certain agricultural quarantine inspection services. USDA last adjusted these fees on January 1, 2005, due to the need for increased inspections because of heightened security following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The fees cover services provided for commercial vessels, trucks, rail cars, and aircraft, as well as for international airline passengers, arriving at U.S. ports of entry. Despite decreases in travel volume and associated fees, inspections and other related support services paid for by the fees have remained the same due to the continued risk of the deliberate or accidental introduction of pests and diseases into the United States. Thus, in order to provide adequate funds for these purposes, APHIS increased the fees approximately 10 percent for commercial vehicles and international air passengers.

DHS's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has taken several corrective actions since January 2006 to validate all process steps used in extracting expense data from its new accounting and budgeting system to help ensure that all agricultural quarantine inspection related costs are accumulated. For example, according to DHS, CBP's Cost Management Information System is driven by accurate recording of staff hours related to specific activities, the major driver for accurate cost accumulation. To get better information for this system, CBP performed surveys to define the percentages of time staff spent performing customs-, immigration-, and agriculture-related services within the unified "One-Face at the Border" processing environment.

USDA issued a Statement of Action, in which USDA and DHS revised their agreement to include a provision for making bi-monthly transfers of agriculture quarantine inspection user fees to DHS. At least seven additional corrective actions have been taken by USDA to ensure that user fees are transfered in a timely and accurate manner. For example, to ensure timely transfers, USDA now enters the transfer requests into the Department of the Treasury's Government-Wide Accounting System at the beginning of the month in which the transfers should be approved and accepted and received by DHS.