Deregulation of the food control in Argentina

Abstract

This paper analyzes the trajectory of the food control regime in Argentina, focusing on the wave of administrative deregulation promoted between 2025 and 2026 that reformed the process of updating food regulations. Through Decrees 35/2025, 538/2025, and 697/2026, the Executive Branch relaxed controls on imported food products and dismantled the National Food Commission (CONAL), centralizing health inspection within the National Health and Agri-Food Quality Service (SENASA). The study argues that these reforms constitute structural deregulation and an «escape from administrative law.» By eliminating mechanisms for concertation with the provinces and consultation with consumers, and food industry workers, the reform erodes public participation and federalism, facilitating corporate interference and increasing institutional opacity. Furthermore, by restricting the participation of independent experts for the sake of austerity, the principle of transparency and the state's duty to regulate with the best available scientific evidence are compromised, thereby affecting the guarantee of the rights to health and adequate food.