WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/GEN/1130 
4 November 2011 
 (11-5612) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
  
 
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF SENASA - NATIONAL AGRICULTURE 
AND FOOD HEALTH AND QUALITY SERVICE 
 
Communication from Argentina 
 
 
 The following communication, received on 27 October 2011, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Argentina. 
 
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I. INTRODUCTION 
1. On 10 June 2010, Decree No. 825/2010 was issued , approving the new institutional structure 
of the National Agriculture and Food Health and Qu ality Service (SENASA) in order to optimize the 
management of this agency within the Minist ry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. 
2. The Decree is designed to strengthen and consolidate the development of sanitary 
management through an operationally decentralized structure at the regional level.  It accordingly 
establishes the National Directorate of Regional Oper ations, which is in charge of the programmes, 
plans and activities of the 14 regional centres, pursu ant to a process initiated in 2006.  The Directorate 
handles the functions of inspection, control, oversig ht, authorization, certification, supervision and 
classification of animals and plants, and products, by-products and derivatives of animal or plant 
origin linked to production. 
3. Decree No. 825/2010 also provides for the establi shment of the Directorates of Animal 
Health, Plant Protection, Agriculture and Food Sa fety and Quality, Technology and Administration, 
Legal Affairs, and Laboratori es and Technical Supervision. 
4. Provision has been made for the non-staff positi on of General Manager, who is tasked with 
assisting the governing bodies and facilitating deci sion-making to ensure that institutional 
management is conducted in line with th e sanitary status achieved by Argentina. 
5. The new structure provides for the establishmen t of an Advisory Council, whose members 
will be appointed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries on the basis of proposals 
from the represented bodies, and will sit for two years ad honorem .  The Advisory Council will 
deliver opinions on issues submitted to it by the Minister of Agriculture and/or the head of the 
sanitary agency. 
6. Pursuant to the National Government's policy d ecision to strengthen the role of the State in 
animal and plant health and agrifood safety and quality, the president of SENASA signed Resolution 
No. 805/2010 approving openings at the lower level, i. e. the second and third tiers of operation, of the 
agency's structure. G/SPS/GEN/1130 
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  7. This measure brings the restructuring of SENASA to completion, a process which began last 
June with Presidential Decree No. 825/2010. 
8. As a result of this measure, the reform and st rengthening of SENASA, which are part of the 
process undertaken by the National Government to modernize the State, co nsolidate the agency's 
regionalization through the establishment of the Re gional Centre Directorate (Standard), under the 
National Directorate of Regional Operations, and upgrades the 14 regional centres' general 
coordinating offices to regional directorates. 
9. Furthermore, the area relating to agricultural ch emicals, veterinary produc ts and food is raised 
to the level of a National Directorate and the area relating to laboratories to a Directorate-General, with new areas of competency for both directorates. 
10. The Resolution, which comprises three Articles a nd four annexes, establishes the purview of 
the Internal Auditing Unit, the six National Directorates (Animal Health;  Plant Protection;  Agriculture and Food Safety and Quality;  Technol ogy and Administration;  Agricultural Chemicals, 
Veterinary Products and Food;  a nd Regional Operations) and the Dir ectorate-General of Laboratories 
and Technical Supervision.  It also defines the ac tivities of the directorates that make up each National 
Directorate and the Directorate-General of Laboratories and Technical Supervision. 
II. ORGANIZATIONAL CHART PURS UANT TO DECREE NO. 805/2010 
11. The organizational chart contained in Annex I of Decree No. 805/2010 is available in Spanish 
at:  http://www.senasa.gov.ar/Archivos /File/File3857-orga-805b.jpg . 
III. MISSION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE NATIONAL DIRECTORATE OF REGIONAL 
OPERATIONS (DNOR) 
12. The National Directorate of Regional Operations is tasked with the following: 
 Carrying out the operational activities of contro l, oversight, authorization, closure and 
certification stipulated in the standards a nd technical regulations governing agri-food 
health, safety and quality at the regional le vel, for both the domestic market and 
external markets; 
 
 taking part in the operational activities relati ng to movements at the federal level, and 
imports and exports of live animals and th eir reproductive material, plant propagation 
material, products, by-products and deriva tives of animal or plant origin, agri-food 
products, veterinary drugs, agrochemic als, fertilizers and soil conditioners; 
 
 overseeing the implementation of operational activities provided for in the plans, 
programmes and activities of SENASA at the regional level in order to ensure 
compliance with the applicable standards in the field of animal and plant health and 
agri-food safety and quality; 
 
 overseeing the inter- and intra-institutional ac tivities of the Regional Centre and the 
dissemination of SENASA activities at the regional level; 
 
 representing SENASA in public- and private-sector national and regional 
organizations in its area of competency at the regional level; 
 
 promoting cooperation conventions and agreements with institutions and 
organizations to optimize the ac tions of the Regional Centre;  G/SPS/GEN/1130 
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   drawing up and implementing the annual re gional budget required for the functioning 
of the Regional Centre, as agreed with th e relevant National Directorates and/or 
Directorates-General; 
 
 issuing administrative acts in its areas of responsibility; 
 
 supervising the technical and administra tive management of the Regional Centre, 
taking corrective action where appropriate;  and 
 
 managing human resources within its jurisdiction. 
 
IV. REGIONAL CENTRES 
13. The 14 regional centres making up the National Directorate of Regional Operations are: 
 Metropolitano (Federal Capital and Buenos Aires conurbation); 
 Santa Fe; 
 Córdoba; 
 Buenos Aires South; 
 Buenos Aires North; 
 Patagonia South (Chubut, Santa Cr uz and Tierra del Fuego); 
 Patagonia North (Neuquén and Río Negro), 
 La Pampa-San Luis; 
 Cuyo (San Juan, Mendoza and La Rioja); 
 Corrientes-Misiones; 
 Chaco-Formosa; 
 Entre Ríos; 
 NOA South (Tucumán, Catamarca and Santiago del Estero);  and 
 NOA North (Salta and Jujuy). 
  Each regional centre was created under a specific SENASA resolution establishing the 
location of its headquarters.  
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