SENATORS WARN AGAINST TRANSFER OF BORDER INSPECTIONS BACK TO USDA

In a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and ranking member Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and ranking member Susan Collins (R-Maine) warn against "any effort to use the farm bill or any appropriations bill as a legislative vehicle to transfer agriculture import inspectors from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to USDA." According to a report from the research company Informa Economics, Lieberman and Collins say that transferring the agriculture inspections functions from DHS back to USDA would be "unwise." They point out that such a policy would create a parallel inspection system at the border which would increase costs to commerce and create confusion as to which agency is actually in charge. Following a 2006 GAO report, Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced legislation (S 887) that would transfer responsibility for agricultural inspections at all points of entry into the United States from DHS to APHIS. The GAO report said that since USDA transferred responsibility for port inspections, fewer agricultural inspections have been conducted at key points of entry. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 transferred all the domestic agencies responsible for securing America's borders –– including port of entry inspectors of USDA's Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) –– to DHS.

(Members-Only articles are indicated in bold.)

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