Chile strengthens inter‑agency response to fruit fly threat in Tarapacá

The Director Nacional of the Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero (SAG), Domingo Rojas Philippi, visited the Tarapacá region to review progress of fruit‑fly eradication campaigns and to reinforce preventive actions. He chaired a technical meeting with regional and local officials, including Presidential Regional Delegate Adriana Tapia, Provincial Delegate Karen Heyne, the regional agriculture minister Fernando Chiffelle, and the SAG regional director Sue Vera Cortez, among others.

Participants examined the particular challenges of the border region, especially the illicit entry of agricultural products from non‑sanitary countries that have been found to carry the pest. Laboratory analyses confirmed that intercepted goods were a primary pathway for new outbreaks. Authorities agreed on the need for permanent infrastructure such as netted crops and quarantine treatments to secure phytosanitary safety and sustain the agricultural sector. Tapia noted that the meeting highlighted the recent detection of a fruit‑fly specimen in Pica after a period without findings, underscoring the importance of coordinated state effort.

The coordinated plan aims to improve detection, rapid response, and long‑term prevention of fruit‑fly incursions in the Tarapacá region.