Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, The University of Reading, UK
Institute of Food Laws and Regulations, Michigan State University, USA
Please note that material on these pages, and the use of it, is subject to a disclaimer.

Food Law Internet Project 2000

Argentina

The Country

• Location: Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay
• Area: total: 2,766,890 sq km; land: 2,736,690 sq km; water: 30,200 sq km
• Land boundaries: total: 9,665 km; border countries: Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km
• Coastline: 4,989 km
• Climate: mostly temperate; arid in Southeast; subantarctic in Southwest
• Terrain: rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border
• Natural resources: fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium
• Population: 36,737,664 (July 1999 est.)
• Population growth rate: 1.29% (1999 est.)
• Ethnic groups: white 85%, mestizo, Amerindian, or other nonwhite groups 15%
• Religions: nominally Roman Catholic 90% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 6%
• Languages: Spanish (official), English, Italian, German, French
• Government type: republic
• Capital: Buenos Aires
• Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (provincias, singular-provincia), and 1 federal district* (distrito federal); Buenos Aires; Catamarca; Chaco; Chubut; Cordoba; Corrientes; Distrito Federal*; Entre Rios; Formosa; Jujuy; La Pampa; La Rioja; Mendoza; Misiones; Neuquen; Rio Negro; Salta; San Juan; San Luis; Santa Cruz; Santa Fe; Santiago del Estero; Tierra del Fuego, Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur; Tucuman
• Legal system: mixture of US and West European legal systems; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
• Executive branch: chief of state: President Fernando De La Rua (since 10 December 1999); Vice President Carlos ALVAREZ (since 10 December 1999); note-the president is both the chief of state and head of government; cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president
• Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of the Senate (72 seats; formerly, three members appointed by each of the provincial legislatures; presently transitioning to one-third of the members being elected every two years to a six-year term) and the Chamber of Deputies (257 seats; one-half of the members elected every two years to four-year terms)
• Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema), the nine Supreme Court judges are appointed by the president with approval of the Senate
• Economy-overview: Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. However, in 1989, the country had piled up huge external debts, inflation had reached 200% per month, and output was plummeting. To combat the economic crisis, the government embarked on a path of trade liberalization, deregulation, and privatization. In 1991, it implemented radical monetary reforms which pegged the peso to the US dollar and limited the growth in the monetary base by law to the growth in reserves. Inflation fell sharply in subsequent years. The Mexican peso crisis produced capital flight, the loss of banking system deposits, and a severe, but short-lived, recession in 1995; a series of reforms to bolster the domestic banking system followed. Real GDP growth recovered strongly, reaching almost 9% in 1997. In 1998, increasing investor anxiety over Brazil, its largest trading partner, produced the highest domestic interest rates in more than three years and slowed growth to 4.3%. Despite the relatively high level of growth in recent years, double-digit unemployment rates have persisted, largely because of rigidities in Argentina's labor laws.
• GDP: purchasing power parity-$374 billion (1998 est.)
  • GDP-real growth rate: 4.3% (1998 est.)
  • GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$10,300 (1998 est.)
  • GDP-composition by sector: agriculture: 7%; industry: 37%; services: 56% (1997 est.)
• Population below poverty line: 25.5% (1991 est.)
• Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%; highest 10%: NA%
• Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1% (1998 est.)
• Labor force: 14 million (1997)
  • Labor force-by occupation: agriculture 12%, industry 31%, services 57% (1985 est.)
  • Unemployment rate: 12% (October 1998)
• Budget: revenues: $56 billion; expenditures: $60 billion, including capital expenditures of $4 billion (1998 est.)
• Industries: food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel
• Industrial production growth rate: 2% (1998)
• Agriculture-products: sunflower seeds, lemons, soybeans, grapes, corn, tobacco, peanuts, tea, wheat; livestock
• Exports: $26 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)
  • Exports-commodities: cereals, feed, motor vehicles, crude petroleum, steel manufactures
  • Exports-partners: Brazil 31%, US 8%, Chile 7.0%, China 3%, Uruguay 3% (1997 est.)
• Imports: $32 billion (c.i.f., 1998 est.)
  • Imports-commodities: motor vehicles, motor vehicle parts, organic chemicals, telecommunications equipment, plastics
  • Imports-partners: Brazil 23%, US 20%, Italy 6%, Germany 5%, France 5% (1997)
• Debt-external: $133 billion (1998 est.)
• Economic aid-recipient: $2.833 billion (1995)
• Currency: 1 peso = 100 centavos
• Exchange rates: peso is pegged to the US dollar at an exchange rate of 1 peso = $1
• Fiscal year: calendar year

The National Food Control System

1. Legal documents

The Argentina Food Code is used by the different agencies in connection with foods.

2. The Administrative Structure

The Food Control National System is integrated by:

• National Commision of Foods (or Comisión Nacional de Alimentos).
• SENASA (Agrifood Quality and Sanity National Service or "Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria).
• ANMAT (Drugs, Foods and Medical Technology National Administration or Administración Nacional de Medicamentos, Alimentos y Tecnología Médica).

The National Commission of Foods has the following faculties and obligations:

To propose the update of the Argentine Food Code, to recommend procedures for the conducting of inspections of food facilities and products, etc.

In this "Decreto" is allocated the responsibilities of the different food control bodies. They are the following:

1) Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Pesca y Alimentación (SAGPyA) (http://siiap.sagyp.mecon.ar) or Agricultural, livestock, fishing and food Secretary. It is the equivalent of the USDA in Argentina. SAGPyA is divided into the following sections:

a) SENASA - Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria or Agri-food Quality and Sanity National Service (http://senasa.mecon.gov.ar). This is the organisation in charge of the warranties and certification of quality and safety in the agri-food sector, fishing and forest production. To control the application of the Argentina Food Code. To attend the vegetable and animal processes, designing and implementing the control plan and the eradication of illnesses and pest. The SENASA is composed by:

• Dirección Nacional de Sanidad Animal or National Direction of Animal Health
• Dirección Nacional de Protección Vegetal or National Direction of Vegetable Protection
• Dirección Nacional de Fiscalización Agroalimentaria or National Direction of Agrifood Control.
• Dirección Nacional de Coordinación Técnica, Legal y Administrativa or National Direction of Technical, Legal and Administrative Coordination.
• Dirección de Agroquímicos, Productos Farmacológicos y Veterinarios or Direction of Agrochemicals, Pharmacological and Veterinary Products.
• Dirección de Laboratorio y Control Técnico or Direction of Laboratories and Technical Control.
• Direcciones Regionales or Regional Directions.

b) INTA - Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria or National Institute of Agricultural Technology (http://www.inta.gov.ar). Decentralized organisation responsible for the development of agricultural extension and investigation.

c) INASE - Instituto Nacional de Semillas or National Seeds Institute.

d) INIDEP - Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (National Institute for Fisheries Research & Development) (http://www.inidep.edu.ar) Organisation in charge of the planning of programs and projects in connection with fishing resources.

e) INV - Instituto Nacional de Vitivinicultura or National Institute of Wine and Vine.

2) ANMAT - Ministerio de Salud - Administración Nacional de Medicamentos, Alimentos y Tecnología Médica (http://www.anmat.gov.ar) or Drugs, Foods and Medical Technology National Administration

The ANMAT is in connection with the control and inspection of the quality and health of the products which can affect human health. This includes drugs, chemical products, reagents, pharmaceuticals, diagnostic elements and medical technologies, foods ready to consume including aditives and ingredients used in the foods, materials in contact with foods, etc.; and cosmetics. It is the equivalent of the FDA in Argentina.

Contributor(s)

• Daniel Alejandro Severo (severo@interserver.com.ar)

8 March 2000