Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Agricultural Health Knowledge management

Argentina launches Master’s degree in plant health management for international trade

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

The specialized course and the training school that will impart it are the outcome of a project implemented by IICA with various partners in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

Buenos Aires, March 30, 2015 (IICA). Argentina’s National Agrifood Health and Quality Service (SENASA) and the Faculty of Agronomy of the National University of Lomas de Zamora (UNLZ), together with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) have agreed to establish the Regional Virtual School for Plant Health Inspectors (ERVIF) in this county, which will offer a Master’s degree course in Management of Phytosanitary Measures in International Trade.

The main objectives of the ERVIF are to promote the protection of plant health in Argentina and in other Latin American countries, contribute to the training of human resources and support regional integration efforts through the joint and harmonious development of the national plant protection organizations (NPPOs).

The signing ceremony was attended by Associate Dean of the Faculty of Agronomy of the UNLZ, Javier Vazquez; the Director of Management and Regional Integration of IICA, Diego Montenegro; the IICA Representative in Argentina, Gino Buzzetti; the Dean of the Faculty of Agronomy of the UNLZ, Carlos Alberto Rossi; and the Vice-president of SENASA, Luis Carné.

The agreement was signed by the President of SENASA, Diana Guillén, the Dean of the Faculty of Agronomy of the UNLZ, Carlos Alberto Rossi, and the IICA Representative in Argentina, Gino Buzzetti.

The signing ceremony was also attended by the Vice-president of SENASA, Luis Carné, SENASA’s National Director of Plant Protection, Diego Quiroga, and the Director of Management and Regional Integration of IICA, Diego Montenegro, together with other officials of SENASA, the UNLZ and the Institute.

The authorities emphasized the importance of this pioneering agreement, which will contribute to improving and expanding the country’s institutional capacity for plant protection.

The ERVIF is the result of a project of the Institute’s Technical Cooperation Fund, implemented between October 2012 and October 2014, under the coordination of IICA’s international specialist in agricultural health and food safety, Lourdes Fonalleras.

The NPPOs of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay also participated in this project. In the case of Argentina, the NPPO is the National Directorate of Plant Protection, of SENASA.

The initiative was aimed at improving the technical capabilities of these organizations in order to ensure that countries have effective health inspection and phytosanitary certification systems. A participatory strategy was used which took into account the needs and opinions of the countries, and on this basis the school was established.

According to Gino Buzzetti, IICA’s Representative in Argentina, “the importance of the agreement lies in the fact that the Master’s course seeks to achieve something fundamental: ensuring the quality of the food that the inhabitants of Latin America eat every day.”

Buzzetti explained that the agreement will improve the education of health inspectors and will also provide a more secure framework for the external markets with which the countries of the region conduct their trade. “Those who ensure the quality of our food must be well trained and the UNLZ has the prestige for that task,” Buzzetti added.

The IICA Offices in the abovementioned countries played an essential role in the creation of the ERVIF. In Argentina, the support provided by Buzzetti and by the AHFS specialist, Tomás Krotsch, was also decisive.

For further information contact:
lourdes.fonalleras@iica.int
tomas.krotsch@iica.int

 

Share

Related news​

Turrialba, Costa Rica

June 3, 2025

On a study visit to Costa Rica, ministers of Agriculture, rural youth and women of the Eastern Caribbean were introduced to improved agricultural practices

The mission began with two days of activities at IICA Headquarters in San Jose, including meeting with the IICA Director General, Manuel Otero. The visitors then travelled to CATIE.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

San José, Costa Rica

June 2, 2025

Ibero-America sees biofuels as a solution to decarbonize the energy sector  

The annual meeting of the Ibero-American Association of Energy Regulators (ARIAE), held in San Jose and Guanacaste, Costa Rica, featured the II Entrepreneurial Forum, attracting 200 participants, including the Costa Rican Minister of Environment and Energy, the Executive Secretary of the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE) and authorities of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB); the XV Regular Annual Meeting of the ARIAE General Assembly, which was attended by 17 regulatory agencies of ARIAE; and the XXVI Annual Meeting of ARIAE Energy Regulators.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

San José, Costa Rica

June 2, 2025

Juan Simón Angoa, protector of heirloom corn varieties and agricultural production in Mexico, has been named an IICA Leader of Rurality of the Americas   

Through his work, Simón has amassed a large collection of colored corn varieties: approximately 180 different shades and about sixteen of the existing varieties in the republic.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins