Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Agricultural Health

Argentina and Chile join forces to build up phytosanitary intelligence in the Southern Region

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

With support from IICA, phytosanitary services in both countries are advancing in the development of systems to facilitate decision making based on scientific and technical knowledge.

The work carried out by the specialists allowed for defining concepts and objectives, identifying tools, and outlining the efforts that will be undertaken to improve phytosanitary surveillance in Argentina and Chile.  

Mendoza, Argentina, 27 June 2019 (IICA). Specialists from the National Service for Agrifood Health and Quality (SENASA) of Argentina and the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) of Chile met in Mendoza to lay the foundation for the sanitary and phytosanitary intelligence systems that they will jointly implement with support from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

During the meeting, the participants defined concepts and objectives, identified tools, and outlined the work that will be carried out. The goal will be to improve phytosanitary surveillance through the development of technologies, the drafting of reports on international threats, and the design of epidemiological models for relevant pests.

Ricardo Luis Negri, President of SENASA, underscored the need to generate systems that would allow for addressing the variables that make sanitary and phytosanitary protection increasingly complex, by providing objective elements to facilitate decision making.

He added that these mechanisms should be scalable, in order to adequately address multiplying variables in the medium term.

Innovative technological tools are being integrated to develop these systems, which aim to support decision making based on scientific and technical knowledge. This, in turn, will allow for addressing various territorial contexts, thus utilizing resources in an efficient manner.

Marco Muñoz Fuenzalida, Head of the Plant Health Department at SAG, emphasized the importance of having a system that can issue warnings regarding phytosanitary threats, assess their priority, and propose response actions.

The participants from Argentina noted that the State’s duty to guarantee healthy production and food safety cannot be delegated; they also discussed the private sector’s relevant role in this regard.

Building upon its experience in matters related to technology and attention to emerging issues, IICA provided technical and financial support to this initiative, in an effort to boost the capacity to anticipate and respond to a number of issues that affect its member countries.

IICA also coordinated the participation of experts from the National Service for Agrifood Health, Safety and Quality (SENASICA) of Mexico and the United States Department of Agriculture – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA/APHIS).

More information:

Lourdes Fonalleras, International Specialist in Agricultural Health and Food Safety at IICA

lourdes.fonalleras@iica.int

 

Tomas Krotsch, Agricultural Health Specialist at the IICA Delegation in Argentina

tomas.krotsch@iica.int

 

Jaime Flores, IICA Representative in Chile

jaime.flores@iica.int

 

Share

Related news​

Santa Fé, Darién, Panamá

September 4, 2025

Coordination between IICA and Panamanian and U.S. government authorities bolsters the fight against New World screwworm in Central America and Mexico

As part of the efforts to curb the spread of the New World screwworm (NWS), a current health threat in Central America and Mexico, the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA) of Panama, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Panama-United States Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of Screwworm (COPEG) organized a meeting with livestock farmers in the city of Santa Fé de Darién to strengthen health surveillance and better protect local livestock production.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

El Director General del IICA, Manuel Otero, reafirmó en la inauguración de Biohélice 2025 el compromiso del Instituto con la bioeconomía como eje estratégico para transformar el agro y revitalizar los territorios rurales. En el acto lo acompañaron la Directora General de CINDE, Marianela Urgellés; el Rector de la UNA, Jorge Herrera; y el presidente de CRBiomed, Álvaro Peralta.

San Jose, Costa Rica

September 3, 2025

Specialists and partners at a meeting spearheaded by IICA view the bioeconomy as essential in positioning Costa Rica and the Americas as leaders in sustainability and production transformation

The bioeconomy specialists were participating in Biohélice 2025, an event organized by Costa Rica’s Universidad Nacional, the CRBiomed association and IICA, which brought together more than 130 participants with an interest in innovation and bioeconomy.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Alagoas, Brasil

September 1, 2025

Eliane Faria de Souza, a fisherwoman from Northeastern Brazil combining old traditions with innovative ideas to protect the environment, is named an IICA Leader of Rurality of the Americas

Eliane works with other women in the region to transform polluting waste substances into organic fertilizer.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins