The regional workshop on Exchange of Experiences in Electronic Phytosanitary Certification Systems (E-phyto) opened today at the Palacio San Martín. This is an essential tool which Argentina has been developing since 2017 and which streamlines and facilitates international trade in vegetable-origin products, making it more dynamic and secure.
The workshop, which is cosponsored by the Plant Health Committee of the Southern Cone (COSAVE) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), was attended by experts from 22 countries of Latin America; the Australian Ambassador, Noel Campbell; the International Relations Coordinator of the National Service of Agro-food Health and Quality (SENASA), María Inés Vica, and Ministry of Agro-Industry authorities. One of the highlights was the presence of Vietnam, one of Argentina's key partners in Asia with which it engages in a wide range of cooperation activities in the agro-industrial sector.
Argentina has electronic phytosanitary certificates that meet international standards, which affords the country a leading role in this area along with Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Canada and the United States.
During the opening, the Director for Bilateral Cooperation of the Argentine Foreign Ministry, Andrea Rosconi, underscored that "the E-phyto tool will establish the infrastructure for developing countries to produce, send and receive electronic certificates based upon a generic web-based system It will thus facilitate exchanges between countries that still lack an e-phytosanitary certification system and those which already have one."
Argentina and Australia undertook cooperation actions in 2017 through the visit to Australia by Argentine experts from the National Service for Agri-food Health and Quality (SENASA), funded by the Argentine Fund for International Cooperation, both countries being leaders in the field. As a result of the visit, an initiative was introduced to boost work by organizing a regional capacity-building seminar for countries in our region.
Rosconi recalled that "Argentina has the Fund for South-South and Triangular Cooperation, which was created by the Foreign Ministry 27 years ago, to pursue its cooperation policy. As a consequence, Argentina is now present in over 70 countries. So far this year, we have carried out around 9,500 projects with the participation of over 6,500 experts."
There is growing interest in the use of E-Phyto certificates, both at National and International Phytosanitary Protection Organizations, in industry sectors and in the private sector. E-Phyto certificates reduce the possibility of document forgeries, enhance efficiency and facilitate the speedy clearance of goods in international trade.
The workshop was attended by representatives of Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Vietnam, among others.
Press release No. 363/18
