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Agroterrorism
This particular word sounds new to many of us. But the term has been around for several years (the earliest examples I can find are from 1999), but has mostly been used by specialists up till now. It has gained a higher profile in the past year or so and has been in the news because of the first International Symposium on Agroterrorism this year. Agroterrorism is the deliberate introduction of a plant or animal disease that disrupts agriculture and so causes widespread economic loss along with fear and instability. The risk is potentially high in the USA, which is a major agricultural country with huge exports, so that the effect of a terrorist attack might be felt well beyond its own borders. As yet, no successful attack by agroterrorists anywhere in the world is known to have happened. Threats in New Zealand to spread foot-and-mouth disease have been blackmail by individuals, not terrorism. Known cases of food contamination in various countries, or of threats to contaminate food, have also proved to be the work of would-be blackmailers or disgruntled employees.
<B>Ashveen KUTOWAROO</B>
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