Illustrative photo (Photo: thestar.com.my) Hanoi (VNA) – The Philippines’ Department of Agriculture (DA) on January 17 announcedthat the country has banned the import of domesticated and wild birds,including poultry meat and eggs, from two US states of California and Ohio.
Philippine Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel saidthe move was due to the outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)in the two states.
He said the rapid spread of the HPAI H5N1 strain in theUS necessitates a wider coverage of thetrade restriction to prevent the entry of the HPAI virus and protect the healthof the local population.
Laurel ordered the immediate suspension of the processing,evaluation of applications, and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitaryimport clearance of the commodities originating from the two states of the US.
All shipments from California and Ohio that are already in transit, loaded, oraccepted at Philippine ports before the official communication of the order toAmerican authorities will be allowed, provided that the products wereslaughtered or produced 14 days before the first outbreak in the particularlocality.
According to DA, the US is the second-biggest supplier ofimported poultry and poultry products to the Philippines, accounting for about40% of the Southeast Asian country's total imported poultry meat.
On January 9, the Philippines stopped importing poultryproducts and domestic and wild birds from Belgium and France as the twocountries reported bird flu outbreaks./.
