Derestricted
FTAA.sme/inf/109
August 12, 2003
Original: Spanish
Translation: FTAA Secretariat
FTAA – CONSULTATIVE GROUP ON SMALLER ECONOMIES
PARAGUAY
BASIC FORMAT FOR THE PRESENTATION
OF SPECIFIC PROJECT PROFILES UNDER THE
HEMISPHERIC COOPERATION PROGRAM – RELATED TO AGRICULTURE
- PROJECT TITLE
IMPROVEMENT OF PLANT PROTECTION IN PARAGUAY IN SUPPORT OF AGRICULTURAL TRADE
POLICY
- EXECUTING AGENCY
The Government of Paraguay through the Ministry of Agriculture – Plant
Protection Division (Address: Ruta Mcal. Estigarribia Km. 10 – San Lorenzo;
Tel.: 595-21 – 570 513/574 343; E-mail:
ddvsec@telesurf.com.py)
- BACKGROUND
The objective of the government of Paraguay is to improve the level and quality
of life of the country's population by implementing a development model that is
supported by private initiative and eliminating the obstacles and structural
inefficiencies in the country's production system and institutions so as to
attain a sustained increase in real GDP and reduce poverty and inequity.
To achieve this objective, the country's domestic policies need to be adjusted
and harmonized in light of the situation of the world economy, particularly with
respect to the international trade in goods of plant origin, so that the country
can become more competitive in this age of globalization and develop the
genuine, consistent strength needed to consolidate its economic and social
development.
- RATIONALE
The ongoing innovations underway at the national and international level
translate into huge challenges and demands for the agriculture sector.
Modernization and increased competitiveness, specialization in production, the
credibility of phytosanitary information systems, effective insertion in world
trade, and environmental sustainability and the improvement of rural living
conditions are all objectives the government urgently needs to pursue with the
broad participation of the farming sector and in order to increase the country's
plant-origin exports.
In order to achieve these objectives, the country's sectoral strategies must be
brought in line with its general economic strategy, and policies and means must
be harmonized.
The limited availability of public resources, which are increasingly tied to
macroeconomic objectives, means that procedures need to be optimized and
priority needs to be awarded to the objectives and targets regarding innovation,
adjustment to demands, and the improvements in public administration (services
and income) that are designed to facilitate the country's adjustment to the
demands of international trade, which should result in improvements in the
country's economic and social indicators.
The implementation of a project for the IMPROVEMENT OF PLANT PROTECTION IN
PARAGUAY IN SUPPORT OF AGRICULTURAL TRADE POLICY, as presented in this profile,
by providing the necessary skills and security for achieving the proposed goals,
will enable efficient mechanisms to be employed to unify the policy-generating
process as a way to set up the market-based incentive system for the
modernization and improved competitiveness of agriculture, which will promote
investment projects.
The strengthening of management capacity and the implementation of components of
plant protection in order to sustain, in a consistent manner, the role it should
play, will result in growing investment in international trade, which could
sustain the Paraguayan economy and the feasibility of the country's plant health
system so that the major challenges this poses in the agricultural sector can be
met.
- OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT.
General Objective
To modernize and strengthen the Plant Protection Division (PPD) in order to
optimize its role and contribute towards the design of policies that are
socially and environmentally in harmony with the domestic economy and that
promote the precepts of international trade-oriented plant protection in order
to further effective development in the agricultural sector in a sustainable
way.
Specific Objectives
- To strengthen and develop skills in order to improve analysis and risk
assessment.
- To develop plant health emergency programs and campaigns for handling
mitigation measures in the case of pest risks.
- To develop programs to establish pest-free areas, zones, or farms by
implementing sound agricultural practices and healthy food production systems.
- To provide training to improve the monitoring, identification, and diagnosis
of quarantine pests (fruit fly, soybean cyst nematode, sirex noctilio)
- To establish an integral information system that serves as a support tool for
the work of the public and private agents operating in the sector.
- To provide training to technicians in order to bring the country's legislation
on plant protection in line with the international norms in force.
- To provide technicians with the basic knowledge for understanding the
implications of trade relations between industrialized countries and countries
with small economies, such as Paraguay.
- INPUTS
The resources required for the project are as follows:
COMPONENTS |
RESOURCES REQUIRED |
EXPERTS
For the diagnosis, formulation, and design of the Ministry of
Agriculture's Plant Protection Policy System
|
- 1 Expert in plant quarantine for 10 months
- 1 Expert in plant health certification for 10 months
- 1 Expert in monitoring and supervision systems for 10 months
- 1 Expert in geographical information systems for 10 months
- 1 Expert in computing for the implementation of a database and
registration systems for 10 months
- 1 Expert in international trade for 8 months
|
Training PPD Technicians |
- Master's degree level
- 4 in plant protection
- 2 in geographical information systems
- 2 in international trade
- Specialization courses abroad
- 6 courses lasting 2 to 6 months
- Local specialization courses
- 4 courses lasting 1 to 3 months
- International seminars
- 6 international seminars per year
- National seminars
- 6 national seminars per year
|
Support for participation in agricultural
negotiations |
- Travel and accommodation expenses for on
average 5 technicians to attend 5 international meetings per year
|
Support for participation in internships in
plant health services |
- Travel and accommodation expenses for on
average 5 technicians to participate in 5 international meetings per year
|
Support in equipment and materials |
- GPS equipment with its corresponding software
- 5 Units
- Subscription to SIG input supplier services (photographs or satellite
charts)
- Computer equipment (PC and Lap Top)
- 5 units
- PLOTTER printers
1 unit
Internet service contracts
- 3 service contracts
- FAX equipment
- 2 units
- Digital cameras
- 2 units
- Photocopiers
- 2 units
- Scanners
- 5 units
- External CD - RW
- 5 units
- Computer inputs (inks for printers, paper for printing maps, paper of
various kinds)
- Subscriptions to data suppliers, bibliographies, specialized magazines
|
Support for the formulation of agricultural
policies and trade policies |
- The hiring of international consultants
to perform studies
- The organization of seminars and forums on agricultural policies and
trade policies
- Seminars and workshops on risk analysis
|
- EXPECTED RESULTS
- The Plant Protection Division will have qualified staff and adequate
infrastructure and equipment for performing its duties and responding
opportunely and efficiently to the requirements stipulated by the upper echelons
of national government.
- The Plant Protection Division will act as the main interlocutor regarding
plant protection for the government entities involved in the development of the
agricultural sector.
- The Plant Protection Division of the General Planning Division (DGP) will
strengthen and increase its management skills in the area of development and
international trade policies, and these will be made to coincide with the
precepts in force worldwide.
- The Plant Protection Division will set up information systems that become an
essential input in the decision-making of public and private economic agents.
- The technicians of the Plant Protection Division will be trained to
efficiently undertake activities related to plant protection and international
trade.
- Duration of the Technical Cooperation:
20 months in total.
|