The dairy industry has begun taking steps to increase "bio-security" of its processing system by drawing up specific industry-wide recommendations. The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) has created a task force to work closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ensure the security of milk tankers, plants and manufacturing operations. IDFA indicated that it acted in response to an FDA request for guidance on the subject. IDFA said it has been actively working with government regulators over the last six months to develop a plan for managing a potential outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the U.S. It also said that experience will give the new task force some insight into domestic management of foreign animal diseases, which can be applied more broadly to a wide variety of food security issues. The task force is being led by Gordon Brown, IDFA's senior vice president for scientific and regulatory affairs, and Allen Sayler, director of regulatory affairs and international standards for IDFA.