WASHINGTON, March 9 (Xinhuanet) -- There are new concerns about the vulnerability of US agriculture to the deliberate introductionof animal and plant diseases (agroterrorism) since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) warned Wednesday.

    The roles and responsibilities of federal agencies involved in anti-terrorism were modified since the Sept. 11 attacks, and the agencies were coordinating development of plans and protocols to better manage the national response to terrorism, including agroterrorism, the GAO said in a report.

    The country, however, still faces complex challenges that limitits ability to respond effectively to an attack against livestock,the report said.

    For example, the Agriculture Department would not be able to deploy animal vaccines within 24 hours of an outbreak as called for in a presidential directive, in part because the only vaccinescurrently stored in the United States are for strains of foot and mouth disease, according to the report.

    There are also management problems that inhibit the effectiveness of the agencies' efforts to protect against agroterrorism. For example, since the transfer of agricultural inspectors from the Agriculture Department to Homeland Security Department in 2003, there have been fewer inspections of agricultural products at the nation's ports of entry, the report said.

    To help reduce the risk of agroterrorism, the GAO recommended the Agriculture Department examine the costs and benefits of developing stockpiles of ready-to-use vaccines, and together with the Homeland Security Department, determine the reasons for declining agricultural inspections. Enditem