Retailers and processors are to be given new guidance on how to prevent or deal with terrorist attacks. Amid growing fears of an attack on or via the food and drink industry, BSi British Standards is working with government security experts at the Centre for the Protection of the National Infrastructure on a new standard for businesses throughout the supply chain. The standard will offer advice on a number of scenarios including what to do in the event food or drink is used as a vehicle for a biological or chemical attack and how to respond to possible disruption of the supply chain. Businesses and trade associations are being asked to help draw up the standard and organise site visits so BSi and CPNI staff can identify possible danger points first-hand. Sainsbury's, M&S, ABF and Baxters are among the first to have pledged involvement. A draft document will be published in Novem­ber, with a view to introducing the standard in March. The standard will be in the form of a Publicly Available Spec­ification, a fast-track procedure that takes less than a year to complete, compared with two to three years for a full British Standard. Last month the European Commission published a green paper examining Europe's "bio-preparedness" in the face of a terror attack on its food supply chain. It is currently consulting on the paper.