Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Agricultural Health Agriculture

IICA-SENASA agreement will enable continuous improvement of agricultural health and agrifood safety services in Argentina

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

The agreement was signed in Buenos Aires by Ricardo Negri, President of SENASA, and Manuel Otero, Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture. It will contribute to strengthening agricultural health and the quality and safety of agrifood products, enhancing the capacities and services offered by SENASA.

The agreement, signed in Buenos Aires by the president of SENASA, Ricardo Negri (right), and the Director General of IICA, Manuel Otero (left). Photo credits: Senasa Argentina.

Buenos Aires, 1 March 2019 (IICA). An agreement signed between Argentina’s National Service of Agrifood Health and Quality (SENASA) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) will facilitate the implementation of new actions for continuous improvement of services in the country, in relation to agricultural health and agrifood safety.

The agreement, which was signed in Buenos Aires by Ricardo Negri, President of SENASA, and Manuel Otero, Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, will also encourage experience-sharing between public and private institutions involved in the provision of agricultural health and agrifood safety services in the American hemisphere. 

It will also identify and develop projects and activities aimed at strengthening agricultural health and the quality and safety of agrifood products, enhancing SENASA’s capacities and the level of services it offers.

The Argentinian official remarked that, “This agreement will help to modernize SENASA and boost its capacities in preventing disease and pests in various areas in our country”.

Negri also maintained that, “Our joint actions are improving our institutional structure. SENASA considers IICA to be a very important organization, for two reasons. It can expose us the experiences of other countries, thus improving our management of much of what we do, and also because of the Institute’s role as the Coordinating Secretariat of the work of the Southern Agricultural Council (CAS) and of all the other entities that depend on CAS, in terms of convergence, regulations, and solving problems on animal and plant health and safety”.

In his remarks, the Director General of IICA explained that he assigns “high expectations to IICA’s agreement with SENASA, which is an organization that not only regulates health, but also food quality and safety”.

Otero also remarked that, “SENASA is undergoing an irreversible modernization process, providing transparency and eliminating a series of procedures – something that is extremely important for external trade and for supplying safe, cheaper food, that reaches the tables of consumers in a more timely manner. The issues that have been identified will enable the strengthening of relations and the execution of joint actions at the national and regional levels.”

Also attending the signing of the agreement by Negri and Otero at SENASA’s headquarters in Buenos Aires were IICA officials—Jorge Werthein, Special Advisor to the Director General; Edith Obschatko, Policy Specialist; and Tomas Krotsch, Agricultural Health Specialist—, as well as SENASA’s Coordinator of International Relations, Miguel Donatelli and its Vice-President, Guillermo Rossi.

More information:

Institutional Communication Division

comunicación.institucional@iica.int

 

Share

Related news​

En el diálogo el Director General del IICA, Manuel Otero, instó a las personas jóvenes a ser agentes de cambio, jerarquizar la agricultura y fortalecer la autoestima del sector agropecuario, por su rol clave para el desarrollo sostenible de los países de la región.

San José, Costa Rica

October 24, 2025

Youth are key to driving the transformation of agriculture across the hemisphere, says IICA Director General at a meeting with participants of the AgriTalent Program of the Americas

Manuel Otero emphasized the need to promote a new narrative for regional agriculture—one that elevates its standing and recognizes its contribution to the food security of the countries.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

El Presidente chileno, Gabriel Boric, durante la X Semana de la Energía que transcurrió en Santiago.

Santiago

October 23, 2025

IICA and the CPBIO highlight the strategic role of agriculture and biofuels at the Tenth Energy Week in Chile

Organized by the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE), the participants in the event included His Excellency the President of Chile, Gabriel Boric. The discussions focused on the technical, economic and regulatory challenges involved in accelerating the decarbonization of transportation in the Americas, especially in the aviation sector.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Diapositiva con el título ‘Conclusiones clave’ a la izquierda y cuatro mensajes en recuadros de colores: ‘SAIA moderno = sistema agroalimentario resiliente’, ‘Cooperación público-privada es clave’, ‘Tecnología transforma la gestión sanitaria’ e ‘Invertir hoy asegura el futuro’. A la derecha, dos personas en traje formal sentadas en entornos profesionales.

San José, Costa Rica

October 23, 2025

IICA presents the updated PVS, a key tool to strengthen countries’ agricultural health services and ensure safe food trade

The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) has unveiled the updated version of a key tool designed to modernize and strengthen agricultural health and food safety services across the Americas—an initiative aimed at safeguarding the region’s sanitary and phytosanitary status, ensuring safe food trade, protecting public health, preventing economic losses and driving rural development.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins