The Minister of Health of Dominican Republic, Dr. Rafael Sánchez Cárdenas chaired the Opening Ceremony of the 9th Ordinary Assembly of the Inter-American Network of Food Analysis Laboratories – RILAA which was held from the 5th to 9th of November in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The Assembly gathered representatives of the member laboratories of 17 countries of the Americas, who defined the new strategies of the INFAL, the action plans of the 2019-2020 biennium, new ad-hoc groups, and elect the new representatives of the Executive Committee, as well as the host country of the 10th INFAL Assembly. The Assembly also hosted a Technical Seminar on antimicrobial resistance and digital transformation.

The representative of the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO / WHO), Dr. Alma Morales, welcomed the representatives of the present laboratories and proceeded to give the floor to Dr. Marcos Espinal, Director of the Department of Communicable Diseases and Environmental Determinants of Health of PAHO / WHO, who emphasized the excellent and continuous commitment of the participating laboratories, regarding collaboration and horizontal cooperation, known as South-South Cooperation. The ex-officio Secretariat of the INFAL exercised by PANAFTOSA / SPV of PAHO / WHO in cooperation with OPS Dominican Republic and REDLAA provided supervision and technical support during the Assembly.

THE 9TH ASSEMBLY OF RILAA reached the expected goals defining the action plans for the 2019-2020 biennium, forming ad-hoc groups on antimicrobial resistance and labeling, as well as electing the member countries of the new Executive Committee: Argentina , Brazil, El Salvador, Honduras, Dominican Republic and Uruguay. Finally, Brazil was elected as the host country of the next 10th Assembly of the INFAL.