The pilot study on Food Chain Security was launched in 2003 by NATO
Public Diplomacy Division Science for Peace and Security Section (SPS)
under the leadership of Turkey. The purpose of the study was to study
the safety and security of food stuffs in the face of their
careless/ignorant handling as well as against expected terrorist attacks
at the system which may destroy and/or degrade it at the source during
distribution, processing and in the consumption phase. The study
included the protective and response measures which may have to be taken
to reduce the risk and mitigate the consequences of these threats to the
food system. The final outputs of this pilot study were agreed to be
mainly: To allow comparison between country partners To identify common
weaknesses of the food systems As a result of the terrible September 11,
2001 attacks in the United States the nature of the terrorist threat
appears to be more uncertain and diffused, therefore the terrorist
threat against the food system which comprises production, processing,
distribution, restaurants, and retail can be very diverse and
unpredictable and involve chemical, biological, and radiological agents
of various kinds. Preparing for all possible contingencies was not
practical, so a "risk management approach" was used in this study based
on risk management principles that acknowledge while risk generally
cannot be eliminated, enhancing protection from known or potential
threats can reduce it.