The Minister of Production and Economic Development, Andres Diaz Cano, met on Monday, March 15, with Izabela Mendez Carvalho and Tiago Rodrigo Lohmann, of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply of Brazil, who are visiting the province of San Juan to carry out an audit and evaluate the plan that it's developing against the Lobesia botrana plague. The goal of this visit is for Brazil to eliminate the requirement that table grapes must undergo a fumigation treatment with methyl bromide to enter that market.
San Juan made the request to eliminate this measure because methyl bromide reduces the competitiveness of the regional grape, as it increases costs and the product does not arrive in good conditions.
The Brazilian representatives will visit farms in various departments and hold meetings to evaluate the National Program for the Prevention and Eradication of Lobesia botrana (PNPyE Lb), the Risk Mitigation System (SMR) for the export of grapes from Argentina to Brazil, the System of Integrated Measures (SMI) for fresh vine fruit for consumption from the regulated area, and the operational implementation of the SMR, among other activities.
The SMR system implemented in San Juan consists of the registration of producers in the Directorate of Plant Health and in SENASA. These organizations extract samples of the grapes during the season and also certify that they do not contain Brevilpalpus chilensis, and thus can be exported to Brazil.
Monday's meeting was attended by the regional director of Cuyo SENASA, Sergio Rossi; the Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, and Agroindustry of the Province, Marcelo Balderramo; the director and deputy director of Plant, Animal, and Food Health, Diego Molina and Ana Maria Cernuda; the Director of Foreign Trade, Milagro Amarfi, and the Director of Wine Affairs, Fioravante Da Rold.
Source: sisanjuan.gob.ar
