The Foreign Service Journal, April 2022

30 APRIL 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL the most qualified participants, and coordinate trainings with inter- national organizations and other countries. In 2014-2015, when avian influ- enza entered the U.S. on wild birds and caused our country’s worst ani- mal disease outbreak ever, APHIS FSOs played an instrumental role keeping trading partners informed of our control efforts, promoting confidence in the United States’ ability to ensure safe exports and maintaining critical export markets. By using a “regionalization approach,” exports from unaffected regions continued during the outbreak. And afterward, as with BSE, APHIS FSOs worked for years to recover all the lost markets. Over the years, as U.S. agriculture developed and changed, new scientific areas have been added to the APHIS FSO’s techni- cal portfolio. Creation of the Biotechnology Regulatory Services program in 2002, for instance, brought increased attention to APHIS’ role in regulating genetically engineered (GE) plants (to ensure they do not pose a pest risk to other plants) and GE prod- ucts in trade. When a regulated GE plant is found in a shipment of commercial seeds or grain, APHIS FSOs work with foreign counterparts and domestic staff to clarify the risk, if any, and develop mitigations where necessary to keep markets open. APHIS FSOs can also help their host countries arrange a visit from APHIS’ Wildlife Services experts, for example, to share their expertise in preventing potentially catastrophic bird collisions with airplanes. And well before the COVID-19 outbreak, APHIS FSOs played critical roles within the U.S. government and with OIE, FAO, World Health Organization and the Group of 7 (G7) Global Partnership Against Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction in assisting countries to better prepare for both pan- demic and bioterrorism threats. For example, the APHIS Foreign Service was instrumental in the design of WHO’s Joint External Evaluation tool and pro- cess, a voluntary “One Health” country evaluation that assesses pandemic preparedness. From 2016 to 2019, more than 100 countries volunteered for a JEE. APHIS’ Foreign Service has been critical to this success. In the process of co-leading seven of the first 11 JEE evaluations globally, APHIS’ Foreign Service docu- mented the process and drafted guidance for both host countries Diplomacy has become a central responsibility for APHIS Foreign Service officers under theWorld Trade Organization’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement and other trade agreements. Above, from left, Mary Lisa Madell, Dr. Jere Dick and Dr. Lisa Ferguson at animal health negotiations within the politically charged and ultimately unsuccessful Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks in Brussels in 2014. At right, a poster in Brussels. APHISBRUSSELS avian influenza diagnostic testing as part of capacity building efforts, and APHIS personnel also worked extensively with the White House Homeland Security Council, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal departments and agencies to develop and implement guidelines on how to respond to a potential introduction of HPAI H5N1 in the United States. And, once again, APHIS took leadership in the international arena. The National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza called for the creation of global partnerships to address pandemic threats. In response, from 2006 to 2008, APHIS used $4.4 million of appropriated funds to support establishment of a global pillar of support to countries that are dealing with an animal disease outbreak—the Crisis Management Centre for Animal Health at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Headquartered in Rome, the CMC-AH, now the Emergency Management Centre for Animal Health, responds to requests from countries to send veterinary teams to provide expert advice. In its first decade, the organization sent 88 technical teams to 45 different countries. Expanding the FSO Portfolio To formalize APHIS’ overseas capacity building work, in 2007 APHIS established the International Technical and Regulatory Capacity Building Center as a central entry point and “clearing- house” for APHIS’ international cooperation / technical assis- tance activities. APHIS FSOs design training activities, nominate