WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/GEN/314
23 April 2002
(02-2309)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  Spanish
IMPORTATION OF DOMESTIC SWINE FOR BREEDING
Communication from Argentina
The following communication has been received from the Permanent Mission of the Republic
of Argentina.
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DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL QUARANTINE
SANITARY REQUIREMENTS FOR THE IMPORTATION
OF DOMESTIC SWINE FOR BREEDING
I. GENERAL INFORMATION
The animals and the relevant documentation must conform to the "Standards for the
authorization of the importation of live animals and/or their genetic material to the Argentine
Republic", as established in SENASA Resolution No. 1354/94, and be covered by an Animal Health
Certificate of Origin issued by the Official Authority.
Animals imported into Argentina must thus be covered by an Animal Health Certificate of
Origin delivered by the Veterinary Administration of their country of origin and stating the particulars
of the owner of the animals and the health-related information required by the Standards.
Prior to the shipment of the animals from their country of origin, the party concerned or his
representative must file an import application with the SENASA's Department of Animal Quarantine,specifying inter alia  the animals' point of entry, date of arrival and destination in Argentina and the
veterinary import inspection duties payable for the species in question at the time of importation.
The Animal Health Certificate of Origin must either be drafted in Spanish or include a
Spanish version.
II. ANIMAL HEALTH CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN
A. 
GENERAL DATA
EXPORTING COUNTRY:
TRANSITING THROUGH:
CERTIFYING VETERINARY AUTHORITY:G/SPS/GEN/314
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A.1. Operators
A.1.1.  Exporter
Full name of exporter/exporting company
Postal address and telephone or fax number
A.1.2. Importer
Full name of importer/importing company
Postal address and telephone or fax number
A.2. Establishment of origin of the animals in the exporting country
Name of owner/company
Name of establishmentLocation
A.3. Transportation
International mode of transportation used
Particulars
A.4. Establishment of destination of the animals in Argentina
Name of owner/company
Name of establishment
Location
A.5. Entry into Argentina
Scheduled date of arrival
Point of entry
A.6. Animals
Number
Sex
Tattooing/individual identification (details on a separate sheet)
Breed
Age
B. 
HEALTH -RELATED INFORMATION
The Official Veterinarian of the Veterinary Authority of the exporting country hereby certifies the
following.
B.1. Country/zone of origin1. The country of origin or, in the case of official regionalization, a part of the country has been
declared free of the following diseases, such status having been approved by the OIE and recognized
by the Republic of Argentina:
• Teschen's disease;
• Swine vesicular disease;
• Classical swine fever;
• African swine fever.
2. Foot-and-mouth diseaseG/SPS/GEN/314
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2.1 The Veterinary Administration of the exporting country will attest, according to the country's
status, that the criteria set forth in the relevant Standard of the OIE International Animal Health Code
have been met.
3. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS)
(a) The country is PRRS-free, and that status is recognized by the SENASA;  or
(b) the requirements set forth in the Annex relating to PRRS have been met.
4. Porcine transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE)
(c) The country is TGE-free, and that status is recognized by the SENASA;  or
(d) the animals originate from an establishment in which no clinical case or serological
evidence of the disease was declared in the 12-month period prior to shipment.
B.2 Establishment of origin of the animals and surrounding premises
1. The establishment of origin has been certified free of brucellosis and Aujeszky's disease by
the Veterinary Administration of the exporting country.
2. The establishment is not subject to sanitary restrictions on account of trichinellosis.
3. No cases of vesicular stomatitis were officially declared in the 365 days prior to the shipment
of the animals.
4. None of the following diseases were diagnosed in the six-month period prior to the export of
the animals:
• Anthrax;
• leptospirosis;
• erysipelas;
• atrophic rhinitis;
• porcine parvovirus;
• actinobacillus pleuropneumonia;
• porcine mycoplasmosis.
5. The establishment does not use feeding stuffs that contain raw viscera of any kind or kitchen
or industrial wastes, and it has a rodent control programme.
6. The establishment has a health programme to identify symptoms of postweaning
multisystemic wasting syndrome (caused by type-2 porcine circovirus), and no case of the disease has
been diagnosed over the past two years.
B.3 Animals6. The animals were born and remained in the exporting country until the day of shipment.G/SPS/GEN/314
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C. TESTING AND TREATMENT
7. The animals covered by this certificate were isolated under official supervision in their
country of origin for at least 30 days and were tested, with negative results, and/or treated for the
following diseases:
7.1 Brucellosis
Serological testing with the Rose Bengal or the Buffered Acidified Plate Antigen (BAPA)
test.
7.2 Tuberculosis
Intradermal bovine PPD and avian PPD tests.
7.3 Leptospirosis
Negative microagglutination test for serotypes grippotyphosa , hardjo , pomona , canicola  and
icterohemorragiae , or specific antibiotic treatment.
7.4 Parasites
Treatment against endo- and ecto-parasites using products of proven efficacy.
7.5 Foot-and-mouth disease
(a) For animals from countries free of foot-and-mouth disease with vaccination:
• Two ELISA tests run 21 days apart.
(b) For animals from FMD-infected countries/zones with an official control programme
that includes systematic immunization of bovine animals using an OIE Standards-
approved vaccine:
• Three ELISA tests conducted at 21-day intervals.
7.6 Vesicular stomatitis
• ELISA test;
• complement fixation test;  or
• serum neutralization (SN) test.
7.7 Aujeszky's disease
• ELISA test;  or
• SN test.
7.8 Classical swine fever ( only for countries where immunization against the disease is
prohibited )
• ELISA test;  or
• SN test.G/SPS/GEN/314
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7.9. Porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome
• ELISA test for American and European strains (two tests run at least 21 days apart).
7.10 Porcine transmissible gastroenteritis
• ELISA test.
NB: The corresponding tests are not required where the certifying country has declared itself free
of any of the above diseases, and that status has been approved by the OIE and recognized by
Argentina.
D. IMMUNIZATION
8. The animals to be exported have never been vaccinated against the following diseases:
• Aujeszky's disease;
• porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome;
• porcine transmissible gastroenteritis.
9. Animals aged over 60 days were vaccinated against classical swine fever between 15 and 180
days prior to shipment.  The certificate should specify the type of vaccine and the virus types and
strains used to produce it.
This is not required where immunization is officially prohibited in the country of origin, in
which case the requirement under 7.8 above applies.
E. SHIPMENT
10. The animals covered by this certificate were inspected at the time of shipment to Argentina
and found to be free of clinical signs of infectious/contagious and/or species-specific parasiticdiseases.
11. The animals were transported from the establishment of origin to the port of embarkation, and
from the latter to Argentina in vehicles/containers cleaned and sanitized to ensure the animals' health
and well-being.
F. 
QUARANTINE
12. In the country of origin, the breeder(s) will place the animals under quarantine in officially
approved facilities offering isolation guarantees for as long as may be necessary to complete testing,
immunization and treatment as prescribed above, under direct supervision by the relevant healthauthority.
13. In Argentina, the animals will be kept under quarantine for as long as may be necessary to
complete any tests, immunization and treatment that the Argentine Veterinary Administration deems
appropriate in the light of sanitary conditions at the time of arrival.G/SPS/GEN/314
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G. ENDNOTE
14. The animals were transported from the establishment of origin to the port of embarkation, and
from the latter to Argentina in vehicles/containers cleaned and sanitized to ensure the animals' health
and well-being.G/SPS/GEN/314
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ANNEX
DRAFT
REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO PORCINE RESPIRATORY AND REPRODUCTIVE
SYNDROME (PRRS) IN COUNTRIES AFFECTED BY THE DISEASE
Definitions
Biosafety
A comprehensive operational system (i.e. encompassing individual, group, environmental and
product-related aspects) based on a coherent, binding, continuous and optimizable approach aimed at
reducing biological risk in a given environment.
Standardized at the minimum cost capable of ensuring a rational level of ethical treatment.
Definition currently being revised.
Swine breeding establishment
For the purposes of this document, a swine breeding establishment means a production unit or
group of production units the objective of which is to produce animals for breeding.
The batches kept in the establishment will be housed inside a compound surrounded by a
single perimeter fence and will all be subject to the same management procedures and external and
personal biosafety measures.
The term "batch" means a group of swine sharin g the same physical area and breathing the
same air.
Negative serological reaction
Depending on the serological technique used,
Negative by IDEXX ELISA:  results < s/p ratio of 0.4;
IFA negative to European and American strains at a dilution of 1:16;
IPMA negative to European and American strains:  titre of < 10.
SANITARY REQUIREMENTS
• Guidelines for countries with swine breeding establishments seeking to export animals
for breeding to Argentina
COUNTRY
1. The country will complete the SENAS A questionnaire on porcine diseases.
2. PRRS is a disease that must be declared.3. The country's Veterinary Administration will have a permanent national PRRS surveillance
and control strategy.G/SPS/GEN/314
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4. Vaccination against PRRS is prohibited.  Ot herwise, the requirement under 3. above applies.
• Guidelines regarding PRRS to be obse rved by the exporting swine breeding
establishment
BREEDING ESTABLISHMENT
1. The breeding establishment will be registered and approved by the exporting country's animal
health authority and will have an official and/or accredited veterinarian responsible for
conducting and/or supervising sanitary measures in the establishment.
2. The establishment will have an animal registration and follow-up procedure based on an
auditable identification system.
3. The animals must never have been vaccinated against PRRS (with live and/or inactive
vaccines).
4. The establishment will have demonstrated the absence of PRRS virus through quarterly
serological monitoring of all batches over a period of at least 12 months prior to the export of
the animals.
Sero-monitoring will be conducted by running representative and random samples from at
least 58 animals from each batch (a number which makes it possible to identify at least onepositive animal with 95 per cent reliability and a predicted prevalence rate of 5 per cent)
through the standard IDEXX ELISA test or any other test recognized by the SENASA.
5. Samples for PRRS monitoring and surveillance will be processed in officially recognized
laboratories.
6. The establishment must not have recorded any clinical sign of PRRS or evidence of the
disease from the herds' productive performance during the periods set for the continuity of
monitoring and surveillance.
7. There will be no animals of the same species within a radius of three kilometres around the
establishment, or if there are, facilities hous ing such animals will co mply with the present
requirements in respect of PRRS.
8. Conditions of entry
9.1
1The establishment will accept only animals of prime genetic quality.
9.2 The animals must originate from breeding establishments that comply with the
present requirements in respect of PRRS.
9.3 Prior to entry, the animals will be placed under quarantine, in facilities solely intended
for the purpose, for at least 30 days during which they must test negative for PRRS by
two IDEXX ELISA tests (or any other test  recognized by the SENASA) run 21 days
apart.  Positive reactions on the ELISA test (out of a predicted number of reactions,
due to the specificity of the test, not exceeding 2 per cent) can be corroborated by
another diagnostic test (IFA and IPMA  (European and American strains)).
                                                     
1 Error in original text.G/SPS/GEN/314
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Where animals tested positive for PRRS virus during the period of quarantine, the
procedure (or a procedure equivalent to that set out below) will be as follows:
• All animals will be removed from the quarantine station and will not be
allowed to enter the establishment.
• The premises will be cleaned with water heated to a temperature of between
90 and 92 degrees centigrade.
• The premises will be disinfected with phenol- or formaldehyde-derived
products of proven efficacy, approved by the competent authority.
• The premises will remain completely empty for at least 14 days before the
arrival of a new group of swine.
9.4 The isolation procedures detailed above will be based on an all in/all out scheme.9.5 All samples for PRRS diagnosis during quarantine will be processed in officially
recognized laboratories.
10. Any swine semen used in the establishment must:
10.1 Originate from breeding facilities or artificial insemination centres that comply with
the present requirements in respect of PRRS.
10.2 The semen must have tested negative by the PCR test, run with two inseminating
doses at the time the semen was collected.
11. Biosafety measures
The biosafety measures adopted will be suited to this type of breeding establishment.  They
will be checked either in situ  or on the basis of officially dispatched documentary evidence, as
appropriate and at the SENASA's discretion.
NB: The Argentine National Agriculture and F ood Quality and Health Service (SENASA) will
determine, in situ  and/or on the basis of documentary evidence, whether the breeding
establishment is eligible for exporting breeding swine to Argentina.
On their arrival in Argentina, the animals ma y be placed under quarantine and subjected
to any tests that the SENASA may deem necessary at the time of importation.
BIOSAFETY SYSTEM
The breeding establishment's biosafety system will include at least the following measures:
General
• The establishment will keep plans, estimates and technical specifications for projects
designed to ensure biosafety.  The projects will be approved and lie under the authority
of the country's Veterinary Administration.G/SPS/GEN/314
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• The establishment will be in possession of a certificate of approval, delivered if the
above requirement has been met.  It will operate under the responsibility of at leastone accredited veterinarian.
• The establishment's biosafety system will be auditable and governed by rules set forth
in procedural manuals available to anyone entering the establishment.  The
establishment must be able to show  that the rules are being followed.
• The establishment will have secure systems for recording the entry and exit of
animals, persons and vehicles and/or supplies, health projects and developments,
movements and any other relevant records.
Entry of swine
• All animals arriving at the establishment will be entered in a register including the
animals' identification data, details regarding the establishment of origin, the means
of transportation used and any other relevant information.
• The animals will be transported directly from the establishment of origin to the place
of destination, without coming into contact with other swine or entering any otherlivestock establishment.
• The animals will be unloaded outside the biosafety perimeter.  The vehicle
transporting them will not enter the biosafety perimeter, and the animals will beunloaded onto a ramp leading into the biosafety area.
Installations
• The entire establishment will be surrounded by a perimeter fence preventing any
uncontrolled entry or exit of animals, persons and vehicles.
• There will be a single point of entry for persons and/or vehicles, with all the
necessary equipment for washing and sanitizing vehicles, including a cleaning anddisinfection device known as a "rodoluvio".  In the case of establishments containing
more than one site, each of the sites will have to meet these same requirements.
• Work and swine handling equipment will be specific to each batch of animals.
• Provision will be made for unidirectional flow of the animals through the
installations.
• All entry points will have:
• A list of individuals routinely authorized to enter the establishment and a
registration system for all other persons;
• a sufficient number of changing rooms, showers and toilets, the shower
facilities being located so that people have to pass through them beforeentering the establishment and/or sites.G/SPS/GEN/314
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• There will be changing rooms adjacent to the shower areas, where people will
change into working clothes and footwear supplied by the establishment.These will be cleaned and sanitized on the premises.
• Hand- and boot-washing sinks and f ootwear disinfestation boxes will be
placed outside the changing rooms, fo r use before entry into the premises
where the animals are held.
• Measures will be taken to keep rodents and birds away from food/feed
storage places.
• Food for staff having access to the biosafety area will not contain any animal
products or by-products susceptible of transmitting swine pathogens.
• The food/feed entry point will be situated so that transport vehicles do not
enter the biosafety perimeter.
• There will be a single entry point, with a disinfection system, for tools,
utensils and equipment.
Staff
• Permanent staff must not come into contact with swine other than those housed in the
establishment.
• Anyone other than permanent staff who ente rs the establishment must not have come
into contact with swine for at least 72 hours, to prevent any risk of transmission of
pathogens, particularly the PRRS virus.
• The establishment will have an ongoing biosafety training programme for staff.
Geographical location of the establishment
• There will be a plan of the establishment covering a radius of at least three
kilometres, detailing the various plots, the activities conducted on them and the maintopographical features and roads.
• The establishment will be located at least 50 metres away from any public road.
Animal waste
• The establishment will have an infirmary and necropsy area.  It will also have a site
for depositing carcasses and animal waste, situated at a distance and separated from
the production sites;  the site will be fenced in, with a system for keeping out rodentsand birds.
Effluents and excreta
• The establishment will be equipped with a waste (liquids and solids) treatment system
ensuring the inactivation of pathogens.G/SPS/GEN/314
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Quarantine facilities
• These must be located at a sufficient distance from the production sites to prevent the
potential transmission of infectious agents, particularly the PRRS virus.
• The requirements governing installations apply, in particular those regarding
management and entry points.
• Quarantine facilities will operate on the basis of all in/all out work scheme.
Disinfectants
• Disinfectants used in all the aforementioned processes must be of proven efficacy and
have been approved by the competent animal health authority.
Buenos Aires, January 2002
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