The deputy administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) recently received the prestigious Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Executive for his past and ongoing achievements on behalf of the United States.
Over the past five years, Dr. Osama El-Lissy has worked with 184 countries to create more than 40 science-based plant health standards while producing billions of dollars in earnings and savings through trade practices, an APHIS press release said. The award he received, given to senior career employees for achievements both nationally and internationally, is one of the highest honors given by the president.
“This achievement reflects the hard work of APHIS employees who are committed to doing all we can to protect American agriculture from pests and diseases,” El-Lissy said in the release. “Every day, we safeguard our resources against pests that threaten our nation’s food crops, farms, and forests and we open new overseas export markets for American agricultural products. I’m proud of our mission to ensure the viability of agriculture and natural resources in the United States and around the world.”
El-Lissy headed a staff that worked to negotiate plant health requirements in an industry worth $137 billion each year, the release said. The negotiations opened new market access for U.S. commodities valued at $1.5 billion, which includes exports to China expected to provide an additional $800 million through trade.
El-Lissy also implemented the Agricultural Quarantine Inspection program, which tracks pest situations worldwide; worked with the International Plant Protection Convention and the North American Plant Protection Organization developing plant health standards for safe agricultural trade; and developed a cost management plan due to the COVID-19 pandemic which saved the country approximately $40 million in 2021, the release said. El-Lissy is currently the head of the Plant Protection Quarantine program.
El-Lissy also helped to eradicate several pests including the European grapevine moth and pink bollworm, protecting grape and cotton crops worth an estimated $84 billion, the release said.
Other achievements include eliminating the plum pox virus which helped protect 1.3 million acres of stone fruit orchards valued at $6.8 billion, the release said. He also led the effort to eradicate the Ralstonia solanacearum bacterium from facilities in 44 states that protected the potato industry worth $4 billion annually.
