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Dec 1, 2004 12:00 PM

The United States Department of Agriculture has released a new voluntary security guidance document for truck transporters of agricultural and food products to bolster national security and safeguard public health.

“These guidelines are practical, flexible, and proactive,” said Agriculture Deputy Secretary Jim Moseley during the American Trucking Associations (ATA) Agricultural and Food Transporters' Conference (AFTC) in Las Vegas NV recently. “This partnership will serve as a model for future efforts.”

The Guide for Security Practices in Transporting Agricultural and Food Commodities is designed to enhance security measures practiced by the nation's approximately 27,000 commercial transporters of agricultural and food-related products across the nation each year.

As part of the partnership, the ATA/AFTC undertook a major survey of 24,000 commercial food and agriculture transporters on their concerns regarding security, terrorism, and where and how to get information. The survey results helped in the development of the guide and informed the identification of additional security options aimed at enhancing protections already in practice across the industry.

The ATA/AFTC website offers information for acquiring the guide at www.truckline.com/cc/conferences/atc.