The National Pork Producers Council submitted comments on the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Strategic Plan Framework, the agency’s roadmap for improving programs and services . Among other recommendations, the NPPC suggested to APHIS:

• Change government grade levels for vets to be more competitive with the private sector and help recent vet graduates with student loan debt.
• Include the animal agriculture industry in the development of an early warning system to detect emerging and zoonotic diseases.
• Begin the regulatory process of increasing user fees to cover a shortage of Customs and Border Protection personnel needed to conduct agricultural contraband inspections.
• Increase staff within its Veterinary Services to meet the growing need to negotiate new market access and maintain existing markets and within its International Services to address sanitary and phytosanitary issues.
• Request additional resources for its wildlife services program to respond to the growing threat of wildlife disease.
• Recognize that farm animal welfare is best left to producers and their veterinarians, using the science-based standards of the National Pork Board’s Pork Quality Assurance Plus program.

NPPC commended APHIS for “its foresight in shaping future programs and activities around these trends that will drive the long-term productivity of American agriculture.”

Source: National Pork Producers Council, which is solely responsible for and fully owns the information provided. Informa Business Media and all of its affiliates are not responsible for any content contained in this information asset.