Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

Agriculture

Peru and Ecuador’s food inspection systems enhance their capabilities with technical assistance from US and IICA specialists

Tiempo de lectura: 3 mins.

The different agencies and organizations were encouraged to set up work teams and strategic partnerships for the nationwide rollout of the new risk-based inspection model.

Principal

 

Lima and Quito, May 15, 2024 (IICA). Workshops on risk-based food inspection systems were held in both Peru and Ecuador in order to strengthen food security in the Andean region. The workshops were carried out under the Promotion of Agricultural Trade in Latin America and the Caribbean (PATLAC) project, financed by the Foreign Agricultural Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA/FAS) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with technical and logistical support from the respective US embassies and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

The meetings took place on April 23 and 24 at Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (MINCETUR), and from April 30 to May 1 at the facilities of Ecuador’s Plant and Animal Health Regulation and Control Agency (AGROCALIDAD).

 

 

 

 

 

Segunda
<em>Zeke Bryant, USDA/FAS Foreign Agricultural Service officer; Mónica Patricia Saavedra Chumbe, Executive President of Peru’s SANIPES; and Héctor Danilo Villavicencio Muñoz, General Manager of Peru’s DIGESA.</em>

 

 

In the workshops, Peru’s National Fisheries Health Agency (SANIPES) and Environmental Health Bureau (DIGESA), and Ecuador’s National Agency for Sanitary Regulation, Control and Surveillance (ARCSA) and AGROCALIDAD, presented the progress made with their risk-based inspection models.

The objective of these models is to modernize food safety management and the inspection of establishments, making both more efficient and aligned with the risk analysis principles of the Codex Alimentarius.

The participants in the meetings, which were targeted at representatives of Peruvian and Ecuadoran industry and academia, included Fernando Sampedro, a speaker and expert from the University of Minnesota; Sonia Allauca, a USDA/FAS official; and Susana Miranda, an IICA specialist in agricultural health and food safety and quality (AHFS).

The different agencies and organizations were encouraged to set up work teams and strategic partnerships for the nationwide rollout of the new risk-based inspection model.

The organizers pledged to continue furnishing technical assistance through virtual sessions, to equip the government entities of the two countries with the tools required to validate the models.

 

Tercera
<em>In Ecuador, AGROCALIDAD and ARCSA agreed to join forces thanks to the technical cooperation provided by IICA under the PATLAC project, in collaboration with USDA/FAS.</em>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int

Share

Related news​

Panama City

February 2, 2026

The IICA Director General  and the CAF President and Vice President discuss the role of financing in expanding the scientific and technological revolution in agriculture of the Americas

In meeting, they analyzed new and better synergies between the development bank and the specialized agency in agricultural and rural development, specifically in issues such as health, soil health and restoration, water resources and specific crops.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá

January 30, 2026

On his first international mission, the new Director General of IICA places agricultural development cooperation at the center of the Latin American and Caribbean agenda

The new Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Muhammad Ibrahim, took part in the International Economic Forum for Latin America and the Caribbean, organized by CAF, where he held meetings with senior authorities from Jamaica, Ecuador, Paraguay, Panama and other international organizations, seeking to scale up programs and projects aimed at underpinning agricultural development, the well-being of rural producers and food security in the region.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins

Bridgetown, Barbados

January 28, 2026

IICA and partners foster buyer-seller connections to boost Caribbean agri-food trade

IICA initiated this intervention to promote intra-regional trade and respond to the challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tiempo de lectura: 3mins