ANDEAN COMMUNITY

DECISION 328: Andean Agricultural and Livestock Health

(Continuation)

Section 11
Basic Catalog of Exotic Pests and Diseases

Article 19: The Basic Catalog of Exotic Pests and Diseases referred to in letter b) of Article II, shall contain the names of the pests and diseases which have not been proved to exist in the Subregion and which are characterized by causing considerable harm to agricultural and livestock production by their easy dissemination, costly control, difficult of being eradicated and represents a high risk for the Subregion.

The Catalog shall also specify the causal agents, vectors, if any, the animal group and vegetable species affected, the products and by-products of agricultural and livestock origin and generally the objects through which plagues and diseases can propagate. The Catalog shall contain too a list of the countries affected by these and shall be approve by a Joint Resolution (Addenda III-1 and III-2). The Andean Technical Committee shall specify the contents of the Basic Catalog of Plagues and Exotic Diseases in the Subregion and shall recommend it be periodically updated.

Article 20 : Based on the Basic Catalog of Exotic Pests and Diseases, it is prohibited to import are into the Subregion from affected third countries, of animals, plants and any type of product, byproduct or objects capable of propagating said pests and diseases.

The prohibition foreseen in the above sub-paragraph does not include animals, plants, products, byproducts and objects submitted to compliance with requisites and procedures indicated in the Catalog, that assures their innocuousness and whose efficacy is recognized by Member Countries.

Article 21 : When such is the case, the Andean Technical Committee on Agricultural and Livestock Health shall establish the requisites that must be complied with by a country that has been affected by an exotic pest or disease in order to be recognized by the subregion free from such a pest or disease and the Joint may approve the pertinent modification of the Catalog.

Article 22: When a country needs to import minor quantities of the products referred to in the previous article or to deliberately intern for study and research, samples of any type or individual biological ones that may host or transmit pests and diseases, their entry into the country shall be carried out under the supervision and exclusive responsibility of official sanitary services, adjusted to the maximum precautions and securities to avoid contagion or dissemination.

Article 23: Any Country Member or the Andean Group may request modification of the Basic Catalog of Exotic Pests and Diseases of the Subregion. To this end, the petitioning Member Country shall remit the background and other facts to sustain their petition.

The Joint shall inform the Member Countries of the petition and the background documents received and shall require their observations on same. The Member Countries shall present their observations within a period of 45 calendar days, starting from the date of request and background documents were sent by the Joint. Once the observations are received, the Joint shall issue the corresponding Resolution.

Section III
Subregional Sanitary Certificates and Permits

Article 24: Member Countries shall continue utilizing the model of the Phytosanitary Certificate of the International Phytosanitary Protection Convention in Rome, in both English and Spanish. Moreover, it shall utilize the model of the Andean Zoosanitary Certificate for Exportation, that appears in ANNEX III of the present Decision.

The certificates issued by Member Countries shall comply with the terms set out in letters f) and g) of Article 15 of the present Decision, in order to be invoked to any other Member Country.

Phytosanitary and Zoosanitary Permits, referred to in letter c) of Article II, shall be gradually replaced by other systems for informing importers of the obligatory phytosanitary and zoosanitary requisites.

The Joint, at the request of any Member Country whatsoever, shall adopt said requisites by a resolution, in accordance with the procedures and terms stipulated in Section I of this Chapter and Article 30 of the present Decision.

CHAPTER VII
JOINT ACTION PROGRAMS

Article 25: Member Countries shall undertake to carry out joint actions for executing sanitary programs and the application of the Register of Phytosanitary and Zoosanitary Norms they deem to be necessary. Such actions shall be concentrated fundamentally on the following aspects:

a) Mutual assistance for combatting and controlling pests that, affecting one country, present the threat of contagion to its immediate neighbors or to other members of the Subregion:

b) Complementing available human and material resources;

c) Generating and transferring technologies in order to combat and control diseases and pests that carry within them risks to two or more countries;

d) Training programs for professional personnel, field operators and sanitary inspectors, among others;

e) Foster sanitary practices in order to support compliance with production and supply programs, that could be derived from entering into accords and commercial agreements that are established within the general framework of the agricultural and livestock integration programs;

f) Foster to carry out integrated programs to handle pests and the establishment of multiplication centers for natural enemies of these, according to their advantages in maintaining the ecological balances within the Subregion;

g) Organize an Andean Network of Diagnostic Laboratories with national and subregional Reference Laboratories, on agricultural and livestock aspects; and

h) Other activities approved by the Joint at the suggestion of the Andean Technical Committee.

Article 26 : Based on the recommendations formulated by the Agriculture and Livestock Council, upon prior consultation with the Andean Technical Committee on Agriculture and Livestock Health, priority actions will be established, as well as financing for same and the requirements for cooperation on sanitary programs. Moreover, mechanisms shall be determined for the functioning of the coordinated effort made when faced with emergency situations.

Joint Action Programs to be executed in the future, shall be approved by Decision of the Cartagena Agreement Commission, as proposed by The Joint, in accordance with the opinion of the Ministers of Agriculture.

CHAPTER VII
ANDEAN TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURAL AND LIVESTOCK HEALTH

Article 27: There shall be created the Andean Technical Committee on Agricultural and Livestock Health (hereinafter to be called simply COTASA), that shall be composed by the Chairmen of the National Committees of Animal Health and Plant Protection Member Countries referred to in Article 29 of the present Decision, or by the representatives designated by the latter. In any case these shall be professionals with decision-making power on matters connected to agricultural and livestock health services of the Member Country they represent.

Article 28: Upon prior convening of the Joint, the Committee shall meet in Ordinary Session once a year, and in Extraordinary Session whenever so requested by a Member Country, the Joint, the Agricultural and Livestock Council or the Commission.

COTASA may meet with the attendance of the Animal Health and Plant Protection Directors, depending on the subject to be dealt with. COTASA's functions are specified in ANNEX IV of the present Decision.

The Joint shall act as Technical Secretariat for the Andean Technical Committee on Agriculture and Livestock Health. This position shall be held by a high level expert specialized in agricultural and livestock health.

CHAPTER IX
NATIONAL COMMITTEES ON AGRICULTURAL AND LIVESTOCK HEALTH

Article 29: Each Member Country shall create the National Committees that shall be composed by the Directors of Animal Health and Plant Protection and by representatives of other agencies of the public and private sectors linked to agriculture and livestock health.

CHAPTER X
PROCEDURES AND TERMS FOR THE GENERAL INDEX OF SANITARY REGULATIONS, SUBREGIONAL REGISTER AND BASIC CATALOG OF PESTS AND DISEASES

Article 30: The procedures and terms for information on new entries in the General Index of Sanitary Regulations, the Subregional Register and the Basic Catalog of Exotic Pests and Diseases, shall be as follows:

a) General Index

The Member Countries shall have delivered to The Joint the summaries of the official texts of the national sanitary regulations, their modifications and changes, not later than six days after publication in the Official newspaper of the Member Country and remitted in the manner indicated in Article 4 of the present Decision.

When administrative changes or reorganizations occur that assign the preparation and the updated maintenance of the information that should be supplied to the Joint, to services other than those mentioned, these shall be considered as new changes and shall be reported for the information of other Member Countries.

b) Subregional Register of Sanitary Regulations

Member Countries shall register all the sanitary regulations, modifications and changes thereto, that are used for the handling of intra-subregional trade and with other countries, of agricultural and livestock articles and products that, by their nature, require sanitary precautions.

Regardless of the terms set out in Section I of Chapter VI of the present Decision, the procedures and terms shall be as follows:

1. The Member Country shall request The Joint to register the sanitary regulation. To this end, it shall remit the corresponding request with the official text of the regulation before its approval, or in any case, in a term not greater than seven (7) working days after publication of same in the country's official gazette.

2. The Joint, once it has received the regulation, shall, within a period of seven (7) working days inform the other Member Countries of the text of same and shall request their observations.

3. The Member Countries, within a period of ten (10) working days, from the date The Joint sent the Regulation, shall remit its comments.

4. Should no observations be received from the Member Countries within the stipulated period, The Joint shall dispose of seven (7) working days to proceed to register the regulation, which shall pass to constitute a Subregional Sanitary Regulation.

5. The regulation having been seen by Member Countries, the country formulating same shall be requested to clarify the observations within a period not greater than seven (7) working days. When The Joint receives the information it shall proceed as indicated in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4. Should no agreement be reached, the case shall be analyzed by the Andean Technical Committee of Agricultural and Livestock Health.

The result reached by same shall be incorporated in the Register of Sanitary Regulations by Board Resolution.

c) Basic Catalog of Exotic Pests and Diseases

The procedure and periods shall be carried out according to the terms set out in Article 23 of the present Decision.

Article 31: The remittance of permanent information on sanitary legislation, institutional structure, physical infrastructure, basic catalog of pests and diseases and of outbreaks or infestations of pests whose incidence endangers a Member Country or the Subregion, shall be made through Member Countries Directors for Animal Health and Vegetable Health, on forms agreed upon by COTASA and approved by a Joint Resolution, regardless of the communications that must be made through the Liaison Agency.

CHAPTER XI
COORDINATION MECHANISMS

Article 32: The handling of all matters concerning the Andean Agricultural and Livestock Health System, which are established through the present Decision, with respect to coordination and communication mechanisms, shall be done according to the terms established in Articles 8, 23, 30 and 31, in order that the data on the General Index of Sanitary Regulations, Register of Subregional Regulations, the Basic Catalog of Exotic Pests and Diseases and economically important to the Andean Area, and sanitary programs may be disseminated immediately and thus permit the adoption of the pertinent measures.

It shall be The Joint's responsibility to follow up, control and advise on the tasks of informing, maintaining epidemiological surveillance, making analyses and formulating recommendations.

Article 33: The Joint shall present to the Agricultural and Livestock Council and to the Meeting of Ministers of Agriculture or to the Commission an annual technical report evaluating the progress of the present Decision and the joint action sanitary programs.

Article 34: Actions on agricultural and livestock health with third countries and with international bodies should be of a communitarian nature and shall be undertaken jointly among the Member Countries.

Agreements between countries on sanitary regulations that are not undertaken by all the Member Countries should be made known to the Joint of the Cartagena Agreement and to the Commission.

Article 35: Faced with the threat of the introduction of an exotic pest into the Subregion, any country may request through The Joint, the formulation of a joint program with the counterpart support of the countries, to request technical and economical support from the private sector or from international technical and financial cooperation agencies.

CHAPTER XII
FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 36: Be there approved as Basic Catalog of Exotic Pests and Diseases of Crops in the Subregion, the Identification Manual of exotic pests and diseases on crops in the Andean Subregion, document JUNAC 07-0128-003-1 and which replaces in the reference, the phytosanitary part which appears in the ANNEX to Decision 195.

Article 37 : The Commission, when approving The Joint's Annual Budget, shall consider a specific item aimed at financing the Plan of Operations of the Andean Agricultural and Livestock Health System.

Said funds shall be utilized to finance the expenses of operations of the Andean Agricultural and Livestock Health System, the functioning of the Andean Technical Committee of Agricultural and Livestock Health, the financing of its participation in international forums where joint positions are adopted and for the contracting of personnel charged with health matters, among other concepts.

Article 38: Have derogated Decisions 92, 122 and 127 and the ANNEX to Decision 195 in the part referring to phytosanitary matters in the Basic Catalog of Exotic Pests and Diseases in the Subregion, there remaining in force the Basic Catalog of Zoosanitary Exotic Pests and Diseases.

Continue on to Annex I-1