Speakers and case study presenters
Speakers:
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Beatriz Melchó Ariztia, COSAVE here is the edited text: Beatriz has been an official from 1983 to the present of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP), General Directorate of Agricultural Services (DGSA) (National Plant Protection Organization of Uruguay). She is the Head of the Certification and Verification Department of the Plant Protection Division, of DGSA. She has 40 years of experience in the phytosanitary field, with proven skills in planning, organizing, and supervising phytosanitary surveillance systems, phytosanitary improvement programs, and phytosanitary campaigns. She has experience in planning, organizing, and supervising phytosanitary certification systems for the export of plant products. |
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Sam Bishop, DEFRA UK Sam Bishop is the head of Plant and Bee health policy and PVS at the UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. He has worked in plant health for more than 20 years, starting as a regulatory scientist before becoming a policy specialist. Sam is chair of the IPPC Commission on Phytosanitary Measures and has also been a member of the IPPC Standards Committee. His experience includes assessment of risk posed by plant pests, development and implementation of legislation, setting phytosanitary import controls, trade negotiations and development of domestic and international phytosanitary policy. |
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Spencer Walse, USDA-ARS Dr. Spencer Walse is a Research Chemist at the USDA-ARS-San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center and teaches at University of California - Davis. Nationally and internationally recognized for chemical expertise as related to horticultural pest control and trade, his research directly contributes to US exports valued at ca. > $4 B annually. Dr. Walse has worked with dozens of horticultural industries to design, evaluate, and implement systems approaches to overcome technical trade barriers. For these efforts, he received the 2025 American Chemical Society’s Innovation in Chemistry of Agriculture Award, “For development of chemical alternatives to postharvest methyl bromide fumigation for the management of quarantine and invasive insect pests". |
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Andre Peralta, Brazil NPPO Andre Peralta is an Agricultural Engineer with a Master’s Degree in Plant Protection. For the past 21 years, he has worked as a Plant Health Inspector at the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of Brazil, with experience in pest prevention and control as well as pest risk analysis. He is currently a member of the IPPC Standards Committee. |
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Maria José Montelongo, Uruguay NPPO Maria José Montelongo is an Agronomist Engineer with a Master's Degree in Agricultural Sciences, specializing in Plant Protection. She was a lecturer at the Phytopathology Unit of the Faculty of Agronomy, University of the Republic (Uruguay). For the past 15 years, she has been working at the Plant Quarantine Department of the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of Uruguay, performing various tasks such as pest risk analysis, establishment of phytosanitary import requirements, and implementation of risk mitigation measures, among others. For the past 10 years, she has represented the NPPO of Uruguay as a delegate to the COSAVE Plant Quarantine Working Group and the MERCOSUR Plant Quarantine Subcommission. Since 2024, she has been a member of the IPPC Standards Committee. |
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Tamara Galvez, SAG-Chile
Tamara Gálvez is an Agricultural Engineer from the University of Chile with more than 20 years of experience at the Chilean Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG). She began her career in 1998 as an Inspector at the Santiago airport point of entry and is now Head of the Plant Quarantine Subdepartment. Her responsibilities include assessing quarantine pest risk management to enable access for new products, updating phytosanitary import requirements, and providing technical support to senior leadership on decisions related to those requirements. She also participates in IPPC working groups (currently the expert group developing risk-based sampling guidance) and in COSAVE’s Technical Group on Phytosanitary Measures, as well as other national and international committees related to the establishment of import and transit requirements. |
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Gabe Hughes, USDA-APHIS Dr. Gabriel Hughes is a Risk Manager Entomologist with USDA-APHIS Plant Protection (PPQ) and Quarantine, where he develops import requirements for fruits and vegetables to ensure they are free from pests. These requirements range from insect trapping and orchard sanitation to phytosanitary treatments such as irradiation and serve to reduce the risk of insect pests on agricultural commodities in trade. Dr. Hughes is a graduate of Brigham Young University and went on to pursue a master's and doctoral degree in entomology at Purdue University, where he studied the chemical ecology of longhorned beetles and other woodboring pests. His expertise in insect pheromones led him to the University of California Riverside where he engaged in postdoctoral studies on moth pheromones to improve trapping and monitoring efforts. Dr. Hughes joined PPQ in his current role as risk manager in 2019. |
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Martin Edgardo Delucis Martín is an Agricultural Engineer from the National University of La Plata with a long career at Argentina’s National Agri-Food Health and Quality Service (Senasa), where he has worked since 2004. He currently serves as Director of Foreign Plant Trade and previously held key roles in phytosanitary certification, including Director of the Phytosanitary Certification Directorate and General Coordinator of Phytosanitary Certification Systems. His responsibilities include establishing procedures to prevent the introduction and spread of quarantine pests, overseeing inspection and certification processes for plant imports, exports, and international transit, and leading digital self-management systems for phytosanitary certification. He represents Senasa in national and international phytosanitary negotiations and has coordinated numerous audits and official visits by other countries. In 2018, under his leadership, the Phytosanitary Certification Directorate received national recognition for excellence in public-sector quality processes. In addition to his technical and managerial roles, Martín has more than 20 years of university teaching experience and currently teaches Statistical Calculus, Biometrics, and Experimental Design at the National University of La Plata. |
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Aruna Manrakhan, CRI
Aruna Manrakhan is an Entomologist, Coordinator of the fruit fly research programme and Manager of the Integrated Pest Management Research Portfolio at CRI, South Africa. She also serves as an Extraordinary Associate Professor in the Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Her research focuses on the biology, ecology, and management of insect pests of citrus, with particular emphasis on fruit flies. Her work aims to develop effective and sustainable pest management strategies. She has been extensively involved in the development of a systems approach for mitigation of fruit fly pest risk in citrus fruit from South Africa. |
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Rieks Van Klinken, CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Organisation), Australia. Rieks Van Klinken has over 20 years of experience conducting research across the biosecurity continuum to help solve national and global challenges. His primary focus now is on science to support the improved assessment and management of trade-related biosecurity risks. He is recognised as a global leader in using systems approaches to manage phytosanitary risks, and how this can be supported by digital and technological developments in the agricultural sector. At CSIRO, he leads large multi-disciplinary, multi-agency projects developing and applying phytosanitary risk science and tools. He works closely with regulators, policy makers, industry, the ag-tech sector, the broader R&D community, and leading risk scientists across the world to achieve these goals. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed publications. Further details of their research can be found here: Phytosanitary risk tools – Phytosanitary Risk Science (csiro.au) |
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Daisy Ibañez, SAG-Chile Daisy Ibañez is an Agronomist Engineer, horticulture and fruit growing at the Universidad de Talca, Chile. She has 20 years of experience in the Chilean National Plant Protection Organization (SAG). In 2003, she started she started working as Official Controller of Abutilon theophrasti, quarantine weed, from June 2003 to December 2004. From 2005 to the present, she has served as Head of the Pest Risk Analysis Section (2005 – 2025) developing and valid Pest Risk Analysis for commodities and potential quarantine pest. In addition, she participates as member of the COSAVE Plant Quarantine Technical Group (South America RPPO) since 2010, where she is responsible for the development of regional PRAs, the development and updates of regional standards of phytosanitary measures. |
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Meghan Quinlan Megan aims to influence human behaviour that affects the spread or introduction of non-native or harmful species and changes to the environment. As a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, she has supported development of innovations in bio and genetic control for protection of plant and animal resources and human health, primarily through organizational governance and regulatory advice. Megan joined her Imperial colleagues in various plant health and biocontrol projects funded by the European Commission. Most recently, she and her late husband led a review of procedures for transport of live insects with WOAH and advised WHO on areawide control of mosquitoes. She is continually learning new things in this role of supporting translation of research to application and impact. Megan witnessed the development of Systems Approach since the mid-1980s, when she worked for the USDA, from a research theory to the basis of extensive trade throughout the Americas. In the past decade, her work with STDF-funded projects provided insights to the variation of understanding across cultures regarding plant risk and Systems Approach. This work included collaboration with NPPOs in SE Asia and an Australian university to create decision support tools for applying Systems Approach. This was followed by the IPPC project Beyond Compliance, also funded by STDF, to train Facilitators covering all FAO regions and refine the tools to their most user-friendly form. Over the course of her career, she has supported development and capacity projects in over 50 countries working under the auspices of USDA, USAID, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and Gates Foundation as well as various private and cooperative entities. Megan has also worked with international agencies such as FAO/IPPC to evaluate the early PCE; document use of ISPM 3 prior to its revision; define equivalence in plant health, evaluate FAO biosecurity programmes, and support the early coordination with the Convention on Biological Diversity and other treaties. Over the same decades she has worked with FAO/IAEA to address fruit fly pests through development of commodity treatments, Systems Approach, pest free areas, and business and trade aspects of area-wide control. Megan's formal education includes a Bachelors from Duke University, USA; a Masters from the Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza, Costa Rica; and a PhD from Imperial College London, UK. She now splits her time between England and Massachusetts. |
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Francisco Gutierrez, Belize NPPO Francisco is the Technical Director of the Plant Health Department of the Belize Agricultural Health Authority and has full responsibility of managing the NPPO of his country. He holds a Master of Science Degree (M.Sc.) in Plant Protection from the Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), Turrialba, Costa Rica, completed in 1996. In 1994, he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree (B.Sc.) in Agricultural Sciences from the Escuela de Agricultura de la Región Tropical Húmeda (EARTH University) in Guácimo, Limón, Costa Rica. He has been involved in IPPC-related activities for the past 16 years. From 2008 to 2014 he was the representative for Latin America and the Caribbean in the CPM Bureau of the IPPC for three consecutive terms. In 2017, he was selected as the representative for Latin America and the Caribbean for the newly established Implementation and Capacity Development Committee of the CPM and is now in his third term in this role. He was trained as a PCE facilitator in 2016 and is now a certified PCE evaluator. |
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David Castro Da-Costa, FDF-Chile David Fernando Castro Da Costa is an Agricultural Engineer (University of Chile, 1985) and has served as Head of the Quarantine Entomology Area at the Fruit Development Foundation (FDF) since 1994. He has been instrumental in the innovation of pest control for Chilean fruit farming, leading projects that have opened international markets and developed sustainable alternatives to traditional methods. He has received advanced training at USDA laboratories in Yakima, Fresno, and Salinas-Davis, as well as FAO/IAEA training programs in Quito, Vienna, South Africa, and Brazil. His expertise includes research on fruit flies, tortricid Lepidoptera, and ionizing radiation techniques for quarantine pests. |
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Rose Souza Richards, ISF Dr. Rose Souza Richards has been the Phytosanitary Affairs Manager (prev. Seed Health Manager) at ISF since March 2020. In this role, she liaises with the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and coordinates industry-wide responses to World Trade Organization (WTO) notifications on national phytosanitary regulations. She oversees key ISF initiatives such as the Systems Approach, the Regulated Pest List Initiative, and the International Seed Health Initiative. Dr. Souza Richards holds a BSc in Agronomic Engineering from the State University of Bahia, Brazil, an MSc in Plant Pathology from the Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil, a second MSc in Plant Diversity from the University of Reading, UK, and a PhD in Plant Molecular Virology from the University of Nottingham, UK. In addition to her role at ISF, Dr. Souza Richards is the Chair of the ePhyto Industry Advisory Group (IAG). She collaborates with the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) and the WTO to enhance global phytosanitary measures and facilitate international trade in seeds. Her extensive experience includes roles at the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) in New Zealand and Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in England, demonstrating her expertise in plant health and regulatory affairs. |
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María de Lourdes Fonalleras, IICA Lourdes is an Argentine Agronomist Engineer with more than 30 years of experience in agricultural health, phytosanitary policy, and international regulatory frameworks. She served as Director of Plant Quarantine at SENASA (Argentina) and, for two decades, as an International Specialist at the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). Her work has focused on strengthening institutional capacities in Latin America through the development and implementation of phytosanitary policies, including pest risk analysis, systems approaches, and equivalence of phytosanitary measures. She has participated in WTO dispute settlement proceedings as a member of a Special Group (Panel). She currently works as an independent consultant and advisor to IICA’s SAIA Program. |
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Mireille Marcotte, CFIA Mireille holds a Ph.D. in forest entomology. She has been working at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency since January 2007, where she has held various positions, mainly related to domestic, import, and export programs for forest products. She has also been the manager of the national plant pest surveillance program. For the last five years, she has been the manager responsible for the export of Canadian forestry and horticulture products. Many of those products are exported using systems approaches. |
Case study presenters:
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Antarjo Dikin, Indonesia NPPO Antarjo obtained his PhD in Plant Pathology in 2007 from the University Putra Malaysia. He was a member of the CPM Bureau and the IPPC Standards Committee from 2010 - 2013. He is a senior professional expert of plant quarantine and has been working since 2019 as an advisor to the Minister of Indonesia Quarantine Authority. His previously served as Secretary of Directorate General for Estate Crop Plantation and Director of Plant Quarantine under the Ministry of Agriculture of Indonesia. He is an active member of the Indonesian Commission of biological control agents and beneficial organism. He is also an external lecturer and PhD promotor in plant protection at the State University of Indonesia and in Gent University, Belgium. |
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Jeya Jeyasingham, Australia NPPO Jeya is an executive level staff at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry—Australia’s National Plant Protection Organisation (NPPO). With sound experience in biosecurity policy, program management and scientific research, Jeya has led import risk analyses for a range of commodities from multiple countries, and managed technical submissions to access overseas markets for Australian commodities, facilitating safe and efficient two-way trade with contracting parties. Over the past decade, Jeya has made key contributions to the development and enhancement of International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs), including chairing the IPPC expert working group tasked with reorganising and revising ISPM 2 and ISPM 11 for improved alignment. Jeya holds a Ph.D. in ecotoxicology and a Master’s Degree in Entomology. |
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Luis Arias-Rojas, ICA En atención al correo precedente, amablemente envío la información solicitada. Luis es Ingeniero Agrónomo de la Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia, Especialista en Ecología de la misma Universidad, Máster en Comercio Internacional (Escuela Europea de Dirección y Empresa) y Magíster en Gerencia para el Desarrollo de la Universidad Externado de Colombia. Durante su trayectoria profesional de más de 30 años, se ha desempeñado en diversos cargos de dirección, asesoría y consultoría en el sector público, privado y académico de Colombia. Se desempeña desde 2023 como Subgerente de Protección Vegetal del Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario-ICA. |
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Matthew Woods, Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand Matthew is a senior adviser at the Ministry for Primary Industries, Biosecurity New Zealand. Working within the Biosecurity Imports and Exports Standards directorate Matthew provides technical advice in the development of government-to-government arrangements and assurance programmes relating to phytosanitary measures for export of horticultural produce. Previously Matthew worked as a risk manager establishing phytosanitary measures for horticultural imports into New Zealand. Prior to joining the Ministry of for Primary Industries Matthew worked as a research scientist investigating mechanisms of drug resistance in pathogenic fungi. Mathew has a doctorate in plant biochemistry and a background in botany and ecology. |
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Hoda Ghazalibiglar, Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand Hoda is a specialist adviser in Biosecurity New Zealand, with a Ph.D. in molecular plant pathology and wide experience in plant health. Her background includes teaching and tutoring at Razi University in Iran and Lincoln University in New Zealand, as well as research on plant pathology and biological control at the Bio-Protection Research Centre. These roles shaped her practical and science-based approach to managing plant pests and diseases. Since 2017, she has worked in advisory and regulatory roles within New Zealand’s biosecurity system. Hoda is now part of the Biosecurity Import and Export Directorate at the Ministry for Primary Industries, where she reviews and improves import health standards to protect New Zealand’s unique environment, enable safe trade, and ensure measures are effective, workable, and well aligned with international principles. |
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Theophilus Mwendwa Mutui, KEPHIS Theophilus is the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) official contact point for the Republic of Kenya. He is also the Representative of Kenya to the Council of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). He has over 25 years of experience, having previously worked at the National Biosafety Authority(NBA) as the Acting Director, Technical Services. He holds a Ph.D. in Horticultural Sciences from Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany. He did his post-doctorate studies at the University of Georgia, USA, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Maryland under a fellowship from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). At NBA, he was involved in establishing networks and partnerships with government entities, the private sector and development partners that were favourable to the Authority. Theophilus was formerly Country Coordinator for Better Training for Safer Food (BTSF) programme for DG-SANCO for the European Union (EU) and a member of the National Food Safety Coordinating Committee. He has many years of experience in research, consultancy and teaching. He is a member in good standing of many local and International professional societies such as the International Society for Biosafety Research (ISBR), International Society of Horticultural Sciences (ISHS), Horticultural Association of Kenya (HAK) and a member of Kenya DAAD Scholars Association (KDSA). He has widely published in international refereed journals and he is regularly invited as a guest speaker in international scientific conferences. |
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Elie Tcheukam Galani, Cameroon NPPO Elie obtained his degree in Agronomy Engineering with a specialization in Plant Protection in 2010 from the University of Dschang in Cameroon. He has been working at the National Plant Protection Organization within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Cameroon since 2011. As a Phytosanitary Inspector and Head of the Phytosanitary Police Post at Douala International airport, he coordinates all phytosanitary activities related to the export and import of foods products and agricultural inputs. He contributed to the development of the technical dossier on mangoes using a systems approach, submitted to the European Union in 2020. In addition, he is a part-time lecturer at the Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences of the University of Dschang, Yaounde annex. |
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Andre Peralta, Brazil NPPO Andre is an Agricultural Engineer with a Master’s Degree in Plant Protection. For the past 21 years, he has worked as Plant Health Inspector at the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO) of Brazil, with experience in pest prevention and control as well as pest risk analysis. He is currently a member of the IPPC Standards Committee. |
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Eunsik Shin, South Korea NPPO Eunsik conducted research on fumigant insecticidal efficacy and stink bug pheromones at Gyeongsang National University and also worked in an insecticide research laboratory at an agrochemical company. He joined the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA) in 2018, where he worked on plant quarantine operations and nematode taxonomy and identification until 2023. He is currently responsible for various import risk analysis tasks, including systems approaches. |
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Daniela Paola Cerón Tapia, Director of Phytosanitary Certification at the Phytosanitary and Zoosanitary Regulation and Control Agency Daniela Cerón is an Agricultural Engineer and holds a Master's degree in Agronomy with a specialization in Plant Health and Agroecology. She has over ten years of experience in phytosanitary certification, agricultural project management, and international trade facilitation. She currently serves as Director of Phytosanitary Certification at the Agency for Regulation and Control of Plant and Animal Health (Agrocalidad), leading the processes that ensure compliance with international requirements for the export of Ecuadorian agricultural products, with an emphasis on opening and maintaining strategic markets. |
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Lassaad Medhioub, Tunisia NPPO Lassaad is a Senior Engineer working for the Tunisian National Plant Protection Organization. A plant health and quarantine pest inspector, he participates in the implementation and monitoring of programs for the eradication of quarantine pests. He is a trainer of phytosanitary inspectors and assures the preparation of technical monitoring documents as well as coordinates phytosanitary control activities for the international trades (exports and imports) with border control pathways. Lassaad is the national coordinator of the ePhyto system, the national editor on the IPPC website, and the national reviewer of the OCS system and the ISPMs. He serves as the SPS (phytosanitary) national information point for the WTO and serves as the Head of the Quarantine and Transboundary Pests Working Group of the Near East and North Africa Plant Protection Organization (NEPPO). |
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Saliou Niassy, AU-IAPSC Saliou began his academic journey at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal. In 2008, he received a DAAD Ph.D. Fellowship to further his studies in entomology at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in partnership with Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya. He undertook two postdoctoral studies: on climate change (2011-2013) at the University of Pretoria and on insect behaviour (2013-2015) at ICIPE in Nairobi. He was the Coordinator of AfroMont and the LandMatrix. His portfolio spans from biopesticide development, climate change, chemical behaviour, biological control, and edible insects to data science. His dedication and leadership skills were soon recognized, and he was appointed as the Hon. Secretary General in 2013 in Yaoundé, Cameroon and assumed the role of President in 2017 in Wad Medani, Sudan, ending his term in 2022 at the 24th AAIS in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Saliou served as Head of Technology Transfer Unit at ICIPE between 2014 - 2015 and 2017- 2023. His academic pursuits have led to numerous publications and the mentorship of several students. Dr Saliou is the Coordinator of the Inter-African Phytosanitary Council (AU-IAPSC) and an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria. AAIS enabled him to discover Africa and meet with entomologists from different countries to discuss pertinent scientific issues. |
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Orlando Antonio Dolores Salas Orlando is an Agronomist Engineer who graduated from the National Agrarian University La Molina, with a Master's Degree in Administration and specialization in international agricultural trade and public investment project management. Over the past 20 years, he has been dedicated to implementing sanitary and phytosanitary measures for export and import, as well as technical negotiations for access to Peruvian products in different countries under the international standards of the WTO's SPS Agreement. He has also participated in the management and execution of research to demonstrate the phytosanitary status of Peruvian fresh fruits in relation to quarantine pests, thereby facilitating their access to more demanding markets. |
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Md Rafikul Islam, Bangladesh NPPO Rafikul is the Additional Deputy Director to the Plant Quarantine Wing, DAE, Bangladesh. He obtained his B.Sc in Agriculture and M.Sc. in Agricultural Botany. He has experiences in Pest Risk Analysis, Pest Diagnosis, Horizon scanning, Pest Risk Register, and Pest Surveillance. He has obtained trainings including Certificates of Advanced Studies (CAS1,2,3) of Integrated Pest Management from Uiversité de Neuchâtel, Switzerland; Molecular Diagnosis of South American Leaf Blight of Rubber in Selangor Malaysia organized by APPPC; Plant Pest Diagnosis, PRA and Phytosanitary measures training from NIPHM, India and Crops Pest Diagnosis, PRA, surveillance, sanitary and phytosanitary courses from IPPC Plant Health Campus, CABI Academy and WTO e-learning platform. Apart from the profession, he is a science activist, Assistant Coach of Bangladesh Biology Olympiad, OMLAS leadership fellow and co-founder of Biology School (biologyschool.org). He is the first Bangladeshi who had the chance to visit space to experience weightlessness in 2007 organized by World Space Week Association. He has translated five science books into Bengali as Campbell Biology (Biochemistry Unit), Campbell Biology (Cell Unit), What a plant think, Complete Alzebra (1st & 2nd part). |
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Sadhana Jankie, Suriname NPPO Sadhana is the national and international point of contact of the Suriname National Plant Protection Organization for plant health matters, in accordance with the requirements of the International Plant Protection Committee (IPPC). She is for the Plant Protection and Quality Inspections department and issuing export phytosanitary certificates or re-export phytosanitary certificates for shipments intended for export or re-export respectively. She ensures proper coordination of phytosanitary control, management and feedback of phytosanitary measures to be taken upon import in accordance with the national and international legal requirements in that area. Sadhana also oversees the execution of pest risk analyses, ensures import requirements for plants and plant products and other regulated goods are established. She follows regional and international developments in the field of plant health (phytosanitary) for translation to Suriname, represents Suriname in bilateral, regional and international fora in the field of plant health, and participates in trainings, seminars, workshops and other activities related to plant health. |
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Saimurodov Shuhrat Saimurodov is a specialist in international relations with a solid academic background in Oriental Studies, having graduated from Tajik National University in 2022 with a concentration in Arabic-French translation. He completed his secondary education in Hamadoni District and Dushanbe. His early professional experience includes one year of volunteer service at the Gender and Development Public Organization, six months of teaching English at a language center, and an eight-month internship at DVV International, where he supported educational initiatives, communication activities, and cooperation with international partners. He been working as a Specialist in the Department of International Relations of the Committee for Food Security under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, contributing to international coordination, preparation of analytical materials, and engagement with foreign institutions. |
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J. Verónica Vásquez Ángel, El Salvador NPPO Angel pursued her studies at the National School of Agriculture (ENA), where she earned an Agricultural Technician degree. While working, she continued her education at the Latin American Technical University and completed a degree in Agricultural Engineering, which gave her a solid understanding of the professional field. She currently serves as a Pest Risk and Phytosanitary Requirements Analyst at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. In this role, she prioritizes providing attentive, personalized service to clients and delivering solutions related to the import and export of plant-based products. Her responsibilities include preparing pest risk analyses and developing phytosanitary requirements for importing plant-based products, as well as gathering and compiling pest-related information. She also guides clients through the Pest Risk Analysis process and conducts inspections at border crossings, ports, and airports to ensure compliance with phytosanitary standards. Additional duties include performing risk analyses and technical consultations, inspecting countries of origin to establish phytosanitary requirements, inspecting plant-based products at exporter facilities, and certifying these products. She also participated in the ARP Subcommittee during El Salvador’s accession to the Customs Union with Guatemala and Honduras and contributed to developing a list of quarantined pests. |
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Rodrigo Barra, SAG CHILE Rodrigo Barra Orellana has led the Phytosanitary Regulation and Certification Department at SAG Central since 2021. He oversees studies and technical analyses for the continuous improvement of the export product certification process under international standards, as well as ensuring regulatory compliance in the product import authorization processes, in order to guarantee the protection of the country's phytosanitary heritage. He holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Chile-Santiago and a Master's degree in Public Management from the Central University-Santiago. Mr. Barra has extensive experience in the public sector, having held successive positions in regional offices and at the central level of SAG. Between 2005 and 2014, he directed the Agricultural and Forestry Export Program and the Fruit Fly Program at the SAG office in Rancagua. Between 2015 and 2021, he served as Head of the SAG Office of San Vicente de Tagua, in charge of managing the financial, technical, human and infrastructure resources, for the achievement of the institutional objectives, coordinating and directing the execution of the different SAG programs in the territorial scope of the Sector. |