Federal Experts Security Advisory Panel (FESAP)

The Federal Experts Security Advisory Panel (FESAP) was established by Executive Order 13546 on July 2, 2010 to provide recommendations related to the security of biological select agents and toxins (BSAT) to the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Agriculture and the Attorney General. BSAT are defined in the Select Agent Regulations (42 CFR Part 73, 9 CFR Part 121, and 7 CFR Part 331). The FESAP successfully completed the tasks enumerated by Executive Order 13546 and released the FESAP: Recommendations Concerning the Select Agent Program report detailing the recommendations on November 2, 2010. In July 2014, the FESAP was re-chartered to evaluate approaches to enhance biosafety and biosecurity in the United States.

Recent incidents involving BSAT have raised serious safety and security policy issues. The White House National Security Council (NSC) staff tasked the FESAP, in September 2014, to 1) identify needs and gaps and make recommendations to optimize biosafety, biosecurity, oversight, and inventory management and control for BSAT; 2) identify actions and any regulatory changes to improve biosafety and biosecurity; and 3) identify an approach to determine the appropriate number of high-containment U.S. laboratories required to possess, use, or transfer BSAT. The NSC requested that the FESAP provide recommended actions to the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, and the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology within 90 days of receiving the tasking. Recommendations were finalized in the Report of the Federal Experts Security Advisory Panel dated December 2014. The USG has developed a plan to implement the FESAP's recommended actions. The USG expects that implementing the recommended actions will strengthen biosafety and biosecurity practices and oversight activities.

The information provided on this page, including reports and recommendations, reflects the consensus views of the FESAP membership and not necessarily the views of their respective Departments, Agencies, and Offices, including the Federal Select Agent Program. Any recommendations requiring regulatory change, if accepted by the Select Agent Program, will be published in the Federal Register as part of the rulemaking process. The public will have an opportunity to comment on the proposed rules at that time.

For more information about the Federal Select Agent Program, please visit the program's website. Additional information about biosafety and biosecurity is on the Department of Health and Human Services’ Science, Safety and Security (S3) website.

FESAP Recommendations and Implementation Plan

• Guiding Principles for Biosafety Governance: Ensuring Institutional Compliance with Biosafety, Biocontainment, and Laboratory Biosecurity Regulations and Guidelines
• Summary of Findings and Recommendations of the Federal Security Advisory Panel on the Biennial Review of the Select Agents and Toxins List (July 2016)
• Recommendations of the Federal Experts Security Advisory Panel
• Recommendations of the Federal Experts Security Advisory Panel (December 2014)
• Implementation Plan for Recommendations of the Federal Experts Security Advisory Panel and the Fast Track Action Committee on Select Agent Regulations (October 2015)