In the region, Argentina leads the way in phytosanitary certification for exporting plant products. The computer system of the National Service for Agri-Food Health and Quality (Senasa) –inaugurated in 2012– has issued more than 1 million phytosanitary certificates that cover the export of plant products and by-products.
"The concern to provide users with agile and reliable management tools that allow reducing transaction costs and respond to the demands of international trade led us to address the systematization of the issuance of phytosanitary certificates as an institutional policy, and today we can proudly say that we are at the forefront of electronic certification, proposing improvements to the system at a local level and participating in the international decisions that are made in its implementation at a global level." said the vice president of Senasa, Guillermo Rossi.
The Comprehensive Phytosanitary Certificate Management System (SigFito) –as it was initially called in 2012– allowed Senasa to modernize and simplify its operations. through its web application with reach throughout the country.
The design and development of the system provides both internal and external users with real-time access to the information produced by the 75 Senasa certifying offices and the export chain from anywhere in the country, in addition to facilitating its processing.
"The system evolved into the current Certification Management System for Products of Plant Origin (CertPOV) which, as a one-stop shop, streamlines and simplifies the management of all documents related to the export of products of plant origin and integrates the requirements of the different technical areas of our organization.", explained the national director of Plant Protection of Senasa, Diego Quiroga.
Among the main challenges to be improved is the incorporation of new functionalities to CertPOV, observing the proposals and comments on the needs of the private sector, working collaboratively to offer solutions to society. At the same time, the demands of the Secretariat of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) of the World Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which in 2006 introduced the need to develop electronic certification, are being addressed.
For his part, the director of Foreign Plant Trade of Senasa, Martín Delucis, highlighted that “Our country was involved from the very beginning in the global discussion on the construction and implementation of electronic certification, which subsequently gave rise to the so-called ePhyto solution, where it has a regional leadership position and encourages the participation of other Latin American countries.”
Argentina is one of the eight countries that currently exchange electronic certificates in parallel with the paper certificateSince 2018, Senasa's CertPOV system has issued 3354 electronic certificates transmitted to its Plant Protection counterparts in the United States, Chile, and the Netherlands, among others.
"We are moving towards paperless phytosanitary certification, increasing the security of transactions in a trade facilitation scheme“Delucis concluded.
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