engleski

Food crime and food defence – European perspective

A terrorist attack on the food or water supply chain with chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) agents can momentarily affect the stability of a state. The state has to ensure availability of sufficient quantities of food and water for the population, conduct preventive measures to avoid terrorist attacks as well as to prepare solutions for crises caused by intentional food and water contamination. A country’s preventive action can be defined through a Vulnerability Assessment of Critical Control Point (VACCP), by adopting a mitigation strategy about the reduction of the system vulnerabilities, as well as developing security and food defence plans into practice. Vulnerabilities could be estimated with CARVER + Shock software (USA). In the event of a crisis, the state should have a prescribed response model to the terrorist attack, as well as an infrastructure recovery duration assessment. Criminal offenses committed through intentional contaminations of the food supply chain (human casualties) bearing ideological or political motives may be characterized as terrorism, but if there was another motive such as sabotaging a competitive product or because of personal motives can be referred as the production and marketing of a harmful product for human health, food terror or murder as a consequence. An attack on the water supply system with a CBRN agent may be an act of terrorism, but if the motive is not ideological then we can characterize it as destroying or damaging public utilities or endangering the life and property with generally dangerous operation or medium. Controlling the production, storage and transportation of hazardous substances (CBRN material) inside and outside the country, engagement of public services (intelligence, police, scientific institutes and ministries of health and agriculture) on time, as well as the fast detection of CBRN agents and medical care for casualties, if an attack occurs, is desirable.

CBRN agent ; intentional food contamination ; critical infrastructures ; vulnerability assessment ; mitigation strategy

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