Letter to the Hon. Mark Morgan, Acting Commissioner of the US Customs and Border Protection - Reps. Axne, Baird Urge CBP to Mitigate Threat of Swine Fever Outbreak in U.S.

Letter

Dear Acting Commissioner Morgan,

We are writing to urge U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to prioritize inspections and screenings of imported agricultural goods, and to not divert resources that are greatly needed to prevent an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in domestic swine herds.

Over the past decade ASF has been endemic in Eastern Europe, where it has been detected on farms, in backyards, and in the wild. Although humans cannot be infected, ASF is fatal to hogs and there is no treatment, cure, or vaccine. It can be easily transmitted to swine through food sources, clothing, equipment, contaminated water, or hog to hog.

Alarmingly, the ongoing ASF outbreak has expanded far beyond Europe into Asia. In August 2018, Chinese officials identified an ASF outbreak in their swine populations that has already had devastating consequences. Although it has not reached the United States, the National Pork Producers Council canceled their June 2019 World Pork Expo held in Des Moines, Iowa, citing an "abundance of caution" to prevent the spread of this disease.

With approximately 50 million hogs in Iowa and 8.5 million in Indiana, our two states lead the country in pork production and produce over a third of the nation's pork supply combined. Pork production generates over $36 billion in economic activity in Iowa and $3 billion in Indiana. This translates to nearly 142,000 jobs in the Iowa pork industry with 6,000 hog farms -- 94% of which are family owned. Indiana's 3,000 hog farms support 14,000 jobs in the pork industry. An outbreak of ASF in the United States would immediately halt pork exports and devastate the families and communities we represent.

As ASF continues to spread overseas, it is imperative that CBP prevent an outbreak in the United States. To accomplish this, we respectfully request CBP prioritize agricultural inspections and screenings to prevent the introduction of ASF or other foreign animal diseases to American swine herds. Maintaining strict standards of inspection is critical to ensuring our border and our farmers remain safe from this growing threat. To that end, we respectfully ask that you inform us on your current ASF prevention efforts. We appreciate your work and look forward to learning from your response.

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