11. March 2022

ICARS signs Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Colombia

The Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and ICARS, signed on 22 February 2022, demonstrates a commitment to mitigating antimicrobial resistance in the veterinary sector in Colombia.

Left to Right: 1. Gloria Cristina Córdoba Currea, AMR Advisor, ICARS 2. Juliana Cárdenas, Political Assistant at Embassy of Denmark to Colombia 3. Clara Marcela Rodriguez, Technical director, Porkcolombia 4. Corina Zambrano, Executive Vice-president, Porkcolombia 5. Erik Høeg, Ambassador of Denmark to Colombia 6. Juan Gonzalo Botero, Vice Minister of Agriculture and rural development 7. Anders Dalsgaard, Senior Scientific Advisor, ICARS 8. Robert Skov, Scientific Director, ICARS 9. Angela Burbano, Head of international affairs at Minister of Agriculture and rural development 10. Carlos Guerrero, Advisor livestock affairs at Minister of Agriculture and rural development 11. Juan Fernando Roa, Sub-director Sanitary and phytosanitary regulations at The Colombian Agriculture Institute (ICA) 12. Luis Felipe Garnica, Technical director for food safety and veterinary products at The Colombian Agriculture Institute (ICA) 13. Heidy Barbosa Segura, operations team – international affairs at Minister of Agriculture and rural development

This new project builds on existing projects in the country. ICARS together with MARD and Porkcolombia, an industrial organisation representing Colombian pig producers, is already co-developing an intervention project to reduce antimicrobial use by improving the provision of colostrum and improving the uptake of vaccinations for piglets.

In addition to the colostrum project, ICARS, the Global AMR Fund for Innovation (GAMRIF) and Porkcolombia are working together on the project “Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance in Colombia via diagnostic uptake in pig farming”.  ICARS is also supporting Porkcolombia as a partner in the JPIAMR funded project “FARM interventions to Control Antimicrobial Resistance (FARM CARE)”.

In his speech, Vice Minister Botero stressed the importance of this multifaceted support from ICARS to test interventions to reduce antimicrobial use and resistance in the pig and other livestock sectors, to ensure the provision of safe produce to domestic and international consumers of Colombian livestock.

The Danish ambassador spoke to the long relations between Colombia and Denmark and confirmed continued Danish support for the sustainable development of the livestock sector. The Strategic Sector Cooperation Project, in which Denmark supported Colombian pig farmers to develop a safe pig sector, was completed in 2021.

“The Memorandum to be signed today will further improve measures to prevent antimicrobial resistance in the Colombian livestock sector, while maintaining the sector’s competitiveness and economic viability. Through this agreement we hope to support Colombia in developing a productive agricultural sector that is highly competitive in international markets in terms of health and cost-effective production.”

Erik Høeg, Ambassador of Denmark to Colombia

Corina Zambrano, Porkcolombia’s Vice-President talked about the ongoing support that the strategic projects with Denmark have meant for the Colombian pig sector in the last 5 years, leading to improvements in production parameters, quality, and safety.

Robert Skov, ICARS’ Scientific Director, acknowledged the progress already made by the Ministry and project partners and commended the great collaboration with MARD and Porkcolombia. Their commitment to tackling antimicrobial resistance is demonstrated by their willingness to promote the rollout of successful interventions. He stressed that ICARS is open to expand collaborations in the livestock sector to mitigate antimicrobial resistance in Colombia.