The New Jersey food and agricultural complex is one of the largest industries in the state, with cash receipts totaling around $63 billion dollars. The state’s eight million residents as well as those residing on the East Coast and parts of Canada are among the primary recipients of products grown on New Jersey farms. New Jersey’s billion-dollar domestic livestock industry sells its products nationally and internationally.

Recent world events have brought to light the importance preserving New Jersey’s significant economic agricultural asset. For example, following reports of threats of contamination, in March 1989, FDA inspectors in Philadelphia found grapes with puncture marks in a shipment that arrived from Chile. Two of the grapes tested were found to contain low levels of cyanide. The FDA impounded 2 million crates of fruit at ports across the USA. Consumers were warned not to eat any fruit from Chile. Chilean fruits were pulled from supermarket shelves, and consumer confidence in the safety of the food supply was compromised. The embargo severely damaged the Chilean economy, resulting in $400 million in losses.

In late December 2003, the $3.2 billion beef export market was closed to US beef producers as the result of one dairy cow diagnosed with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (mad cow disease) in Washington State. Established tracking (food traceability) protocols instituted by both the United States and Canada helped to quickly identify the originating farm for the infected cow, other animals that traveled with it, their final destinations, and the destination of the processed meat, but consumer confidence still suffered.

This Washington State incident comes on the heels of other international outbreaks of mad cow disease, Foot and Mouth disease, and the national re-emergence of West Nile virus. These events, combined with the recent threats of Anthrax and other forms of bioterrorism have prompted legislative directives to provide protection for and improve the traceability of livestock and all other farm products in our state.

Demands to protect these industries continue to rise in light of expansion into world markets, the presence of food borne pathogens such as E.coli and Salmonella, and significant diseases, such as Johne’s disease, that impact and challenge overall animal management and their environment.

In October 1998, the US Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Agriculture jointly issued a guidance document for the fresh fruit and vegetable industry that provided general guidelines for reducing the possibility of contamination of fresh produce by microbial organisms. The document, “Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables”, provides discussion about high-risk areas for contamination and how to avoid or reduce the possibility of such contamination. Shortly thereafter, many wholesale produce companies began requesting that their suppliers provide assurance that the supplier was following the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Handling Practices (GHP) that the document recommended.

As a result of requests from shippers and growers in various states to provide some type of service to satisfy the wholesaler’s needs, the Association of Fruit and Vegetable Inspection and Standardization Agencies (AFVISA) began investigating the possibility of providing a national audit service in cooperation with USDA to satisfy the shippers’ and growers’ needs. In August 2001, USDA approved the program and a pilot program was launched. Currently, this audit-based service is being utilized in 26 states. Service is provided by licensed fruit and vegetable inspectors (Federal & Federal-State) who have successfully completed the USDA Good Agricultural Practices & Good Handling Practices training class and have participated in a minimum of 3 audits. (Including one as a lead auditor.)

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture has five licensed and trained auditors to perform GAP/GHP audits.

The Secretary of Agriculture is an official invited member of the state’s domestic security preparedness taskforce. This appointment opens the door for addressing the needs of all agricultural production during emergency situations including outbreaks of disease. Fruit and vegetable as well as animal producers raising any and all species of livestock in New Jersey must become educated, now more than ever, on farm biosecurity, animal health, food safety, and emergency preparedness for possible outbreaks of disease and contamination.

In 1995, the New Jersey Veterinary Medical Association and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Division of Animal Health established the Animal Emergency Preparedness and Response Committee (AEPARC). Composed of representatives from the NJVMA, state and federal animal health agencies and other animal related industries, AEPARC began developing emergency plans for domesticated pets, livestock, poultry and wildlife.

By the autumn of 2002, the State recognized the need to expand AEPARC to include a broader representation of people or organizations involved in the animal and livestock industry as a whole and formed the Animal Emergency Working Group. The immediate and proper response to disasters affecting the health, safety and welfare of all animals requires the coordinated efforts of specialists in emergency medical care, evacuation, feeding, sheltering, transportation and waste disposal. Expanding public and private membership within the task force refined the State’s emergency response and enhanced its scope through the integration of federal disaster planning resources. Simultaneously, this expansion assisted in the development and organization of local emergency plans. During this process, the existing animal issues, annexes and appendices involving the State’s Emergency Support Function were reviewed and revised. In addition, a County Veterinary Coordinator, with the authority to notify and mobilize veterinary service and animal care personnel during periods of heightened risk, was established as an integral member of County Emergency Management Programs.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the delegates to the 90th State Agricultural Convention, assembled in Atlantic City, New Jersey on January 24-26, 2005, in order to keep New Jersey's agricultural products safe, its industry competitive, its natural resources diverse, and consumer confidence high call upon the agricultural community to embrace these best management practices, and incorporate the procedures into their farming practices to help prevent accidental introduction of disease and reduce the risk of becoming a target for terrorist activities.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we support the continued development of the updated animal emergency working group, an inter-agency team of animal professionals including state veterinarians, Office of Emergency Management officials, local animal control officers, and others, charged with developing standards to address the needs of animal owners during a state of emergency.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we support the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and the Animal Emergency Working Group’s continued efforts to develop an all-hazard emergency response plan for disasters involving animals.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we support Cook College in its consortia application with Pennsylvania State University, Washington State University and University of Maryland to the US Department of Homeland Security to be designated as a national Homeland Security Center for Post Harvest Food Protection and Defense. The Center will be responsible for conducting developmental and demonstration research that will enhance the nation's ability to prevent, detect, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks that intentionally contaminate the nation's food supply.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, we support the Livestock and Poultry Food Safety Initiatives originating from and developed by the partnership of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Rutgers Cooperative Extension and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, including but not limited to, the New Jersey Cattle Health Assurance Program and the New Jersey Sheep and Goat Health Assurance Program; as well as continued support for inclusion and participation in the Mid-Atlantic Beef Quality Assurance Program, Shellfish Producers Quality Assurance Program, Regional Dairy Quality Management Alliance and National Pork Producers Quality Assurance Program.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we endorse and support the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s continued expansion of laboratory facilities and associated field staff activities that allow for ongoing and expanded surveillance of emerging animal and plant diseases.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we support the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Senior Services collaborative work through third party audits and other certifications to assure food safety and quality beginning at the farm level.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, we support the initiative of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Walton Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis, to develop, support, oversee and own a GIS database for the purpose of protecting New Jersey’s livestock and poultry industry in the face of a natural or man-made disaster.