SAFE Act of 2025: USDA to Negotiate Animal Disease Response with Foreign Nations to Safeguard Food Exports

The SAFE Act of 2025 is looking to give the U.S. a stronger playbook when animal diseases threaten our food exports. It proposes changes to the Animal Health Protection Act, specifically Section 10405, empowering the Secretary of Agriculture to cut deals with other countries. The main idea is to set up pre-agreed rules on how to handle animal disease outbreaks—think things like bird flu or swine fever—so that American food products can keep flowing to international markets, even if there's a problem in one part of the U.S.

Keeping Ag Exports on the Menu, Globally

This bill is essentially about damage control and market access. When an animal disease hits, it can slam the brakes on a huge chunk of U.S. agricultural exports. The SAFE Act wants to give the Secretary of Agriculture, working through specific folks like the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the green light to sit down with foreign governments. Their mission, as outlined in the new subsection (d) of Section 10405 of the Animal Health Protection Act, is to negotiate agreements on how to manage these outbreaks using strategies like "regionalization," "zoning," and "compartmentalization." These talks are also supposed to take the latest global scientific research into account, ensuring that any agreements are based on solid evidence.

Disease Zones & Safe Havens: What's the Deal?

So, what are "regionalization," "zoning," and "compartmentalization"? Imagine a livestock disease pops up in one part of the country. Instead of a foreign trading partner banning all U.S. beef or poultry, these agreements would aim to have them recognize that other regions, specific zones (like a county or even a state), or compartments (like a particular farm with high biosecurity measures) are still disease-free and safe for export. For example, if there's a cattle disease confirmed in one specific area, this bill aims to create a framework so that beef from a certified disease-free ranch in another part of the country could still be exported, provided an agreement is in place. This is about being precise and science-based to minimize trade disruptions, which is a big deal for U.S. farmers, ranchers, and the overall agricultural economy that relies on these exports.

Trade Deals and Animal Health: Playing Nice in the Sandbox

The bill also makes a couple of important clarifications about how this new power fits with existing trade negotiations. First, it states that these new negotiating powers for the Secretary of Agriculture don't step on the toes of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) – that’s the main office handling big international trade deals. The USTR can still negotiate trade agreements as they always have. Second, the bill clarifies that the USTR isn't required to make other trade agreements conditional on including language about animal disease outbreaks, as described in the new subsection (d)(1) of section 10405. It’s about adding a specialized tool for agricultural trade protection, allowing for focused agreements on animal health without necessarily tying them into every other trade negotiation.