The Andean Agricultural Health System (SASA) is defined as a set of principles, elements, and institutions for harmonizing sanitary and phytosanitary provisions; bettering plant and animal health; contributing to an improvement in human health; facilitating trade in plants, plant products, regulated articles, and animals and animal products; and ensuring the observance of provisions on the subject.

Decision 515 adopted by the Andean Community Commission on March 8, 2002 regulates agricultural health by establishing the Andean legal framework for the adoption of sanitary and phytosanitary measures to be applied to trade within the Subregion and with third countries in plants, plant products, regulated articles, animals and animal products.

This instrument, which replaces Decision 328, brings Community provisions into line with the new priorities of the subregional integration process and international agricultural health requirements by incorporating the principles established in the WTO’s Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.

It also incorporates Member Country National Agricultural Health Services into the Andean Health System in order to ensure better administration, execution, and observance of Community provisions; adjusts the time limits and procedures for updating and keeping the Subregional Register of Health Provisions; and incorporates the priority concept of the WTO’s Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures of permitting the protection of human and animal health and the safeguarding of plants.

Decision 515 also incorporates, as instruments of the SASA, the procedures whereby a Member Country or a part of it can declare itself free from a pest or disease and the establishment of Andean Systems of Animal Health Information and Epidemiological Surveillance and of Plant Health Information and Phytosanitary Surveillance, and the Joint Action Programs.

It provides, as well, for the mechanism of technical consultations with the Andean Technical Committee on Agricultural Health and the National Plant and Animal Health Protection Bodies to learn about the experiences and technical criteria of their experts and thereby contribute to perfecting proposed provisions.

According to Decision 515, the SASA is made up institutionally of the following bodies:

The System’s regulatory instruments are: Community sanitary and phytosanitary provisions; the Subregional Register of national sanitary and phytosanitary regulations; emergency provisions and Plant and Animal health import permits or documents, and Plant and Animal health export and reexport certificates, among others.

The Andean System of Animal Health Information and Epidemiological Surveillance and the Andean System of Plant Health Information and Phytosanitary Surveillance, together with the procedures whereby a Member Country or part of it may declare itself free from a pest or disease, and Joint Action Programs in Agricultural Health are the supporting instruments that have been developed for the System.