Health and Human Services and CDC allocated funds to the northern and southern states bordering Canada and Mexico for the U.S. Border State Early Warning Infectious Disease Surveillance (EWIDS) Project. The purpose of EWIDS is establishing a database of laboratories, drafting MOUs to share data, personnel and equipment between jurisdictions during an infectious disease public health emergency; maintaining laboratory surveillance through PulseNet and FoodNet, working with tribes whose land is on the border and crosses into Mexico and Canada, expanding the Laboratory Response Network (LRN) into Canada and Mexico; conducting tabletop workshops to discuss bi-national communication strategies, developing bi-national communication strategy including bi-national crisis and emergency health alert communication, case reporting and notification protocols and expanding sentinel and active surveillance for infectious diseases. More recently, there have been subcommittees or groups set up to consider food safety and defense issues. Four cross-border regions are focused on during this roundtable, the Northeast, Great Lakes, Northwest and California and Texas with Mexico. In the Eastern Health Initiative with seven states and provinces, Dr. Cleary is the lead for the Food Protection Programs for New Brunswick. In the south, Carrie Rigdon, Minnesota Rapid Response Team, heads up the FoodSHIELD program and maintains the sharing of food safety information with those in the Great Lakes Border Health Initiative, Food Protection and Defense Subcommittee. Wayne Turnberg is co-chair of the Epidemiology Workgroup of the Pacific Northwest Border Health Alliance. Co-chair Shaun Kennedy is the former Director of the National Center for Food Protection and Defense. The panel is expected to raise issues dealing with both food safety and potential threats under food defense where immediate reaction by members is required, but also to learn from each regional group’s activities.