21 Apr NGFA: Important Message on Obtaining PPE in Response to COVID-19
For the past several weeks, we have been working intensely with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the FEMA Supply Chain Stabilization Task Force to prioritize the needs of the food and agriculture sector for access to available personal protection equipment (PPE), as well as disinfectants and sanitation supplies, to protect the health and safety of employees within the sector and to retain consumer confidence.
Today, we are pleased to report that the discussions with the Supply Chain Stabilization Task Force have resulted in its identification of the attached list of distributors (with contact information provided) that have or soon will have significant quantities of PPE available, including non-medical-grade facemasks (including cloth masks). These distributors are prepared to receive requests from entities within the food and agriculture sector that have an immediate need for PPE that cannot be satisfied through their existing distributors.
Private-sector associations that participate in the FASCC are welcome to broadly distribute this message verbatim, as well as the attached list of distributors, to your members as you see fit. Individual companies that are members of the FASCC also are welcome to make use of this list as warranted by your needs for PPE.
Importantly, some of your associations’ members – or individual companies participating in the FASCC – already may have agreements in place with one or more of these distributors. If so, we encourage them to reach out to their existing points of contact to explore options that may be available to meet their immediate and future needs, recognizing that doing so may necessitate having agreements with multiple distributors. We understand that the FEMA Supply Chain Stabilization Task Force is in frequent dialogue with these distributors and has urged prioritization of food and agriculture sector needs immediately behind the health care and medical sector whenever possible.
In a separate but related effort, we have worked on a prioritization document that is intended to provide a framework for both members of the food and agriculture sector and distributors that provide PPE, disinfectants and sanitation supplies. We are in the process of exploring ways to get that document issued through official channels and will keep you posted. We will continue to promote within the federal government prioritization of PPE, disinfectants and sanitation supplies for the food and agriculture sector, and explore options available through existing emergency-management processes, as well as the parallel efforts of the FEMA Supply Chain Stabilization Task Force.
Thank you and those you represent for your continued commitment and efforts to maintain the operational status of critical infrastructure-designated facilities within the food and agriculture sector, while also maintaining the health and safety of your employees and workplaces as we work together to support a whole of America approach to ensure the food supply chain remains safe, secure and resilient – and continues to meet the needs of consumers – during the COVID-19 national emergency.
Sincerely,
Clay Detlefsen
Chair
Sector Coordinating Council
Food and Agriculture Sector
Senior Vice President, Regulatory
and Environmental Affairs
National Milk Producers Federation
Randy Gordon
Vice-Chair
Sector Coordinating Council
Food and Agriculture Sector
President and CEO
National Grain and Feed Association
LeeAnne Jackson, Ph.D.
Co-Chair
Government Coordinating Council
Food and Agriculture Sector
Health Science Policy Advisor
Center for Food Safety and Applied
Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration
Michelle Colby, DVM, M.S.
Co-Chair
Government Coordinating Council
Food and Agriculture Sector
Chief, National Security Division
Office of Homeland Security U.S. Department of Agriculture