The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is to co-operate with the European Co-operation in Science and Technology program (COST) in research strengthening the safety and security of Europe's meat and livestock chain.

Especially since the September 11 attacks, military forces and alliances have been increasingly concerned about bio-terror attacks via food distribution systems.

According to Meat Info, as a result, NATO's Science for Peace and Security program (SPS) has staged an inaugural meeting with COST, which is managed by the European Union (EU) to identify "gaps in research" and cooperate to fill them.

NATO is developing sophisticated risk assessment models to identify vulnerabilities and protect them against terrorist or military subversion.