Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) signed a memorandum of agreement during a ceremony Thursday that formally outlines how the departments will transfer ownership and operational responsibility for the National Bio & Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) from DHS’s Science & Technology Directorate to USDA.

The agreement was signed by USDA undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs Greg Ibach, USDA deputy undersecretary for research, education and economics Scott Hutchins and DHS senior official performing the duties of the undersecretary for science and technology William Bryan.

When completed, NBAF will be a Bio-safety Level-4 (BSL) laboratory in Manhattan, Kans., for the study of diseases that threaten both U.S. agriculture and public health.

Under the terms of the memorandum, DHS retains responsibility for completing construction of and commissioning the $1.25 billion facility, while USDA will assume responsibility for all operational planning and eventual operation of the facility. DHS’s efforts are on schedule and on budget to complete construction in December 2020 and to complete commissioning in May 2021, when ownership of NBAF will be formally transferred to USDA.

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In its strategic plan for NBAF, USDA said NBAF will protect U.S. agriculture, farmers and the American public from transboundary animal and dangerous, exotic zoonotic diseases by facilitating research, developing vaccines, performing diagnostic testing and training researchers and veterinarians to respond to biothreats.

The USDA plan provides a big-picture understanding of how USDA intends to capitalize on NBAF’s capabilities to best serve the nation.  It outlines: how NBAF will serve as a national biosecurity asset to protect human and animal health, food safety and the ag economy; the capabilities provided by NBAF; NBAF’s role in predicting, preventing and responding to threats; the scientific mission and goals at NBAF, and how USDA will collaborate with partners to expand NBAF’s capabilities and reach.

“It’s a real honor for USDA to have the operational stewardship of NBAF. We look forward to working with Members of Congress, our private-sector partners and our academic partners in this area as we take over operations. USDA will make this a facility that America can be proud of,” Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said.

“NBAF will be the first facility in the United States with maximum biocontainment, BSL-4 labs, where we can develop vaccines and diagnostics for high-consequence animal diseases – including those that can also affect human health,” Ibach said. “These expanded capabilities will enable us to be more dynamic and flexible in responding to disease threats — wherever they come from, whatever they look like.”

“All security starts with food security,” Hutchins said. “Few countries have as successful a history of protecting agriculture and their food supply from both intentional and unintentional threats as does the United States; with NBAF, we are doubling down on this mission. This will be a unique, state-of-the-art national security asset where we will practice state-of-the-science research to avert and address critical bio-risks to U.S. agriculture.”

“The DHS/USDA partnership on NBAF extends back to the initial planning in 2006. That partnership has remained throughout the DHS-led acquisition process and will endure after USDA initiates operation of the facility,” Bryan said. “The capabilities provided by NBAF are critical in the ongoing efforts to protect the nation’s food supply and agriculture economy. As noted by the National Academies of Science in a 2012 review of the NBAF Program, the NBAF design provides the ‘ideal functionality’ to address the stated mission needs.”

The state-of-the-art NBAF facility will replace the aging Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York. The Kansas site in Manhattan strategically places it near the largest concentration of animal health companies in the world, providing access to important veterinary, agricultural and biosecurity research and expertise.