The United States Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) conducted a sanitary inspection in the Patagonia Norte A region with a view to recognizing it as a foot-and-mouth disease-free zone without vaccination and initiating the importation of bone-in beef from there.
The president of the National Service of Health and Agri-Food Quality (Senasa), Ricardo Negri He said that "the delegation evaluated the conditions of the region and the biosecurity measures that this strip offers for Certify safe trade in goods such as meat and derivatives of species susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease".
During their stay in our country, the American auditors visited the Northern Patagonia Regional Center of Senasa, the Agency's offices in the region, border control posts, the Agency's Laboratory, the Quarantine Lazaretto, a slaughterhouse for export and various agricultural establishments.
The National Director of Animal Health of Senasa, Ricardo Maresca He explained that “in each location, staff were interviewed and meetings were held with representatives of the producers and the consignees of livestock.The audit team will carry out a qualitative-quantitative risk analysis to measure the possibility of transmission of the foot-and-mouth disease virus through imports from the region.".
"Once the report is completed, APHIS will send the results to Senasa and once the bureaucratic-administrative procedures established by the US regulations have been completed, the process of opening this market for products such as fresh meat with bones originating in this Patagonian region can move forward," the official concluded.
During their visit to the Senasa Laboratory in the Buenos Aires town of Martínez, the auditors were received by authorities and personnel specialized in foot-and-mouth disease and quality management. The Senasa National Laboratory is a reference for this disease for the World Organization for Animal Health. (OIE).
The Director General of Laboratories and Technical Control of Senasa, Carlos Zenobi, commented that “the delegation verified the diagnostic methods used for foot-and-mouth disease, the treatment of suspected presence of the disease, techniques used in serological sampling to determine viral activity, controls on foot-and-mouth disease vaccine, and biosecurity conditions in the Senasa Laboratory and in the laboratories producing said vaccine. In addition, a presentation was made on the quality management system and tests accredited under the ISO/IEC 17025 standard to date, and on the immediate future plans in this regard.”
Note that the Patagonia Norte A was recognised as a foot-and-mouth disease free zone without vaccination by the 82nd General Assembly of the OIE in May 2014. For the purposes of international trade, some countries such as the USA carry out their own recognition of the health status of countries and/or areas with respect to foot and mouth disease. For this, the initial requirement is the prior certification of the health status by the OIE.
In addition to Negri, Maresca and Zenobi, the final meeting with APHIS auditors at the Agency's headquarters was attended by the following people: Marcelo Ballerio, Director of Management Control and Special Programs; Francisco D'Alessio, Director of Epidemiology and Risk Analysis; Ricardo Cafferata, Director of International Traffic; Eduardo Maradei, Director of Animal Laboratory; and Rodolfo Bottini, Director of Foot and Mouth Disease Program; and María Inés Vica, Director of International Relations.
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