Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is an operating unit of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Image File history File links Animal_and_Plant_Health_Inspection_Service. ... The U.S. Department of Agriculture, also called the Agriculture Department, or USDA, is a Cabinet department of the United States Federal Government. ...

APHIS' mission (2003): To protect the health and value of American agriculture and natural resources. (APHIS website, 2003)

APHIS aims to protect American animals, plants, and the agricultural industry by offering:

• Protection from invasive non-native plants, animals, insects, and diseases
• Monitoring and management of existing agricultural pests and diseases
• Resolution and management of trade issues related to animal or plant health
• Prevention or cessation of the inhumane treatment (of animals)

(APHIS website, 2000; cited at [1].)

The threats and challenges within APHIS' scope include:

• Non-compliant biotech events
• Invasive species
• Agricultural animal/plant health threats
• Agricultural bioterrorism
• SPS trade barriers
• Wildlife conflicts and diseases
• Zoonotic diseases
• Animal welfare issues

APHIS aims to protect ecosystems, natural resources, agriculture, agribusiness, agricultural exports, consumer health and safety, and animal welfare from the above threats. (APHIS website, 2003) Zoonosis is any infectious disease that can be transmitted from animals, both wild and domestic, to humans. ... Animal welfare is the viewpoint that some or all animals, especially those under human care, should be treated in such a way that they do not suffer unnecessarily. ...

New challenges for APHIS include bioterrorism (Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness Act (2002)) and BSE. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease of cattle, which infects by a mechanism that shocked biologists on its discovery in late 20th century and appears transmissible to humans. ...

APHIS has a budget of approximately $800 million annually and employs about 7,000 people, about 5,000 of which are deployed as inspectors at ports, borders and on farms. The current APHIS administrator is Dr. Ron DeHaven. He was appointed by Ann Veneman in April 2004. ([2]) Ann Margaret Veneman (born June 29, 1949) was the 27th United States Secretary of Agriculture, and was a director of Calgene, the first company to market genetically-engineered food. ...

In 2003, the border inspection responsibilities of APHIS were transferred to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a unit of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. US Customs is responsible for controlling the borders of the United States U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), part of the United States Department of Homeland Security, is charged with preventing terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the United States. ... The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a Cabinet department of the federal government of the United States that is concerned with protecting the American homeland and the safety of American citizens. ...

External links

• Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. URL accessed on October 10, 2005.

• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service - Protecting America's Agricultural Resources. U.S. Customs & Border Protection. URL accessed on October 10, 2005.