The Comité Internacional Regional de Sanidad Agropecuaria (CIRSA) is the regulatory body that occupies the highest hierarchical level in OIRSA. It makes binding decisions, as the Committee issues the fundamental guidelines and mandates for the Organization. It comprises the secretaries and ministers of Agriculture, Livestock, Food, Fisheries, and Forestry from the nine signatory countries of OIRSA.

Among the most important attributions of the CIRSA are:

• Dictate the policies and actions of the OIRSA.
• Approve the Annual Program budget of the organization.
• Decide on the admission of new member states.
• Appoint the executive director of the OIRSA, approve its basic structure, and the
  management reports from the Executive Directorate.
• Appoint the general manager and external auditors.
• Consider and approve, if applicable, the recommendations of the Executive
  and Technical Commissions.
• Approve regulations for the proper functioning of the Organization.

The CIRSA meetings are held in rotation in each of the member states, and the presidency is held for one calendar year by the minister or secretary of the country where the Ordinary Meeting of the Committee is held. This meeting takes place once a year, typically in March, and serves two main general functions:

(1) the role of being the guiding body in health policies, defining the significant guidelines and courses of action for the organization, and (2) the role of governance in the administrative matters of the organism, with functions of approval, supervision, and control.

However, any member of the CIRSA or the executive director can convene an extraordinary session on another date to discuss a topic of regional interest. Decisions of the CIRSA are made by a majority of its members (two-thirds).