Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9 (HSPD-9 -- the Defense of United States Agriculture and Food directive of January 30, 2004) establishes a national policy to protect against terrorist attacks on agriculture and food systems. It directs federal departments and agencies to coordinate their efforts, assess vulnerabilities, prepare response plans, create public awareness, and conduct necessary research. HSPD-9 builds upon HSPD-7, which added agriculture to the list of industries for

critical infrastructure protection In the U.S., critical infrastructure protection (CIP) is a concept that relates to the preparedness and response to serious incidents that involve the critical infrastructure of a region or the nation. The American Presidential directive PDD-63 o ...

. HSPD-5 (regarding the national response plan) and HSPD-8 (regarding preparedness) are being used by the USDA Homeland Security Staff in implementing HSPD-9.

References

{{CRS, article = Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition, url = http://ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/05jun/97-905.pdf, author= Jasper Womach United States Department of Agriculture United States presidential directives