USDA Releases Transport Security Guide

November 2004 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in partnership with the Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference (AFTC) of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), recently released a new voluntary security guidance document for truck transporters of agricultural and food products to bolster national security and safeguard public health.

This guidance, USDA/AFTC 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.

Trucking is a common denominator that moves a wide variety of materials ? food as well as fertilizers, livestock, fresh and frozen produce, building materials and farming equipment ? and provides a vital link in the farm-to-table continuum.

The guide is available at: http://www.usda.gov/homelandsecurity/homeland.html on the World Wide Web.