Erika Mello assumes the directorship of Agricultural Defense in São Paulo

The appointment of the new director of the Agricultural Defense of São Paulo, an agency of the Secretariat of Agriculture and Supply (SAA), was published in the Official Gazette of the State (DOE) on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. For the first time in the institution's 27-year history, a woman, veterinarian Erika Ramos Mello (pictured), will assume the position. 

Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Erika holds a Master's degree in Veterinary Medicine from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ) and a Bachelor's degree in Public Administration from the Federal Fluminense University. She has worked in Agricultural Defense since 2008, when she joined the Agricultural Defense Inspectorate of Bananal, part of the then Agricultural Defense Office of Guarantiguetá.

In the regional office where she began her career in Agricultural Defense, she was Head of her unit and Deputy Director of the regional office. Subsequently, she was assigned to work at the organization's headquarters, where she served as Technical Assistant to two Coordinators (at the time, the highest position in the institution) and was appointed as a substitute for two other Coordinators. She also held the position of directing all animal health services in the State.

His work has always involved various actions within animal welfare programs, in addition to coordinating and implementing projects in this area, including removing the mandatory branding of bovine and buffalo calves vaccinated against Brucellosis and, recently, establishing standards and strategies for the implementation of the Intelligence and Transit Coordination (Coint), a newly created department within the institution, which brought, for the first time, the concept of "data intelligence" into the institution.

The new director was part of the State Technical Management Group for actions related to the National Foot-and-Mouth Disease Program and is also a member of the State Zoosanitary Emergencies Group (GEEZ). 

Furthermore, on an international level, Erika has represented the Agricultural Defense of the State of São Paulo during the general sessions of the World Assembly of Delegates of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WHO) in 2018, 2025, and 2026. In 2018, she also participated in the 45th Ordinary Meeting of the South American Commission for the Fight against Foot-and-Mouth Disease (COSALFA) in Bolivia. 

Erika Ramos Mello will lead the twelfth administration of the Agricultural Defense, an agency created on September 2, 1998, whose mission is to guarantee the health and quality of the production chains of São Paulo's agribusiness to increase its competitiveness in national and international markets and contribute to the protection of the environment, public health, and economic and social development.