The Agriculture Department is applying more scrutiny to research done by its employees alongside noncitizens.

The directives, laid out in a memo which went out to USDA employees and research institutions earlier this month, are part of a broader effort to increase security measures around the U.S. food supply — especially when it comes to foreign adversaries like North Korea, China, Russia and Iran.

The sweeping instructions require recipients of USDA funding to disclose contracts associated with “foreign entities and certify they are not party to a malign foreign talent recruitment program.”

The policy is a part of the “National Farm Security Action Plan” unveiled by the department alongside other members of the administration’s cabinet to boost domestic manufacturing, research and production.

Internal and outside researchers agree food security is important. But they say added scrutiny on collaborative agriculture research could hurt U.S. innovation. 

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The new policy directs USDA employees to stop collaborating and communicating with people who might be from the list of countries of concern.

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