Senasa published Resolution 949/2026, which repeals rules from 1964 and 1966, approves a contingency plan and ratifies the obligation to report and control locusts and grasshoppers. IICA estimates at US$3.7 billion the production potentially exposed in the NOA and NEA.
The Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria (Senasa) updated the regulatory framework for fighting the South American locust and grasshoppers through Resolution 949/2026, published this Friday in the Official Gazette. The measure repeals provisions in force since 1964 and 1966, approves a new contingency plan and ratifies producers' obligations regarding these historic pests.
In its reasoning, the agency stated that “the current fragmentation of the regulatory framework in force on the matter undermines the speed and effectiveness required by control actions against these pests in the territory”. The resolution reorganizes the Programa Nacional de Langostas y Tucuras, created in 2017 and ratified in 2019.
Article 7 ratifies the obligation to immediately report the presence of the pest in the egg, nymph or adult stage. The requirement applies to producers and those in charge of agricultural and livestock farms, to national, provincial and municipal health authorities, to control service providers and to any other person who detects the presence of the insect.
Article 8 establishes that those responsible for agricultural and livestock establishments must “carry out the relevant control actions”, with their own means or through services contracted from third parties, using plant protection products authorized or registered with Senasa and respecting good application practices. They must also “allow official agents to enter” for surveillance, supervision and inspection tasks. Non-compliance may be sanctioned under Law 27,233.
The South American locust is a historic threat due to its “very high capacity for dispersal, gregarious behavior and voracity”, characteristics that allow it to move in large aggregations and cause damage over extensive productive areas. Grasshoppers, although they do not have that same capacity for massive displacement, can cause significant losses on a local scale.
The resolution draws on a study carried out by the Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA) in 2020, which identifies the NOA and NEA as the regions most likely to be affected by the South American locust. According to that analysis, the value of production of the main crops in both regions stands at around US$3.7 billion, a figure that does not include fruit trees, industrial crops, natural pastures or other forage crops and that represents production potentially exposed, not losses actually recorded.
The regulation approves a new Contingency Plan for the South American locust, which sets out the response procedures in the event of suspicion or detection of aggregations of the pest. It provides for activation mechanisms, the responsibilities of the various actors, surveillance actions, risk assessment, control measures and guidelines for communication and follow-up.
Its five main lines of work are: surveillance and analysis of population dynamics; control of outbreaks with the participation of public agencies and producers; training and communication; research and technology transfer; and planning of sanitary strategies.
