The National Service of Health and Agri-Food Quality (Senasa) presented in Coronado (Costa Rica) the Digital Media Monitoring and Control Program during the Regional Workshop of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) for Latin America, which took place from August 22 to 25, 2023, at the headquarters of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
During the sessions, the International Plant Protection Convention provided updated information and supported the development of phytosanitary capacities and the exchange of experiences at the regional level. Taking into account the advances that Senasa of Argentina In light of the work carried out in recent years regarding the supervision of digital channels and electronic commerce, the Plant Health Committee of the Southern Cone (COSAVE) saw the opportunity to share its experience in order to encourage other Latin American countries to begin addressing this issue.
In that sense Rosina Leicht, Head of the Digital Media Monitoring and Control Program He explained that “the Program seeks to ensure control, by Senasa and within the scope of its powers, of the content published on websites that market products, by-products and/or derivatives of animal and plant origin, contemplated in Article 1 of Law No. 27.233, and to detect advertisements or commercials made by users of the websites, which could be in violation of current health regulations and affect health.”
"We urge other organizations to replicate this work because we have fully demonstrated that it is feasible., accessible for implementation and highly beneficial for all parties involved. The creation of this The program is unprecedented in the region and continues to receive support from various international organizations. Along the same lines, it is worth mentioning the considerable increase in procedures initiated for the registration of new products, which clearly demonstrates that With information and support, the result and impact are highly virtuous, allowing users-consumers to acquire an ever greater quantity and variety of safe and suitable products for their consumption.", Leicht said.
He also explained that: “The modality Door to door or Courier, was one of the concerns of countries in general, which has to do not only with electronic commerce within their own territories, states or countries, but is related to the entry into other countries of prohibited substances that may compromise health status. In this sense, we updated the AFIP General Resolution 2146 of 2006, which was replaced by the Senasa-AFIP Joint Resolution (on which the General Directorate of Customs depends) which is 5397 of 2023 and which was published in the Official Gazette on August 7.
La International Plant Protection Convention The IPPC recognizes that the growth of e-commerce has resulted in an unprecedented number of goods moving across borders, via postal and courier routes. This change in trade patterns, coupled with the challenge of controlling and preventing the entry of unauthorized products, increases the risk of introduction and spread of plant pests into new territories. It is also worth noting that the issue of e-commerce has been identified as one of the eight elements of the development agenda in the IPPC Strategic Framework 2020-2030.
For his part, the president pro tempore of the Plant Health Committee of the Southern Cone (Cosave) and National Director of Plant Protection of Senasa, Diego Quiroga He considered that “this workshop is a magnificent opportunity to continue working on the construction of a strategic vision and action aimed at strengthening plant health a little more each day. As a representative of our country, through the participation of Senasa, it is very valuable to contribute our vision to the draft regulations that ensure the protection of plant resources and their optimization through safer trade.”
“Sharing our experiences on plant protection in these types of areas calls us to work at a regional level in an articulated, integrated and collaborative manner in the face of the new challenges of agricultural production, trade and the environment. In addition, it is very important for us at Senasa, in this case, to tell other countries about an almost unique experience in the world, in the monitoring of electronic commerce of products, which still has not made much progress in other places and to highlight all the work carried out in Argentina during this time,” said Quiroga.
Aduana News is the first Argentine customs newspaper to launch its digital version. With 20 years of experience, its publications and initiatives aim to provide the most relevant knowledge on customs issues in order to contribute to safe trade in the region.
