Illustrative photo (Photo: thestar.com.my) Hanoi (VNA) – The Philippines’ Department of Agriculture (DA) on January 17 announced that 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 said the 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 the US necessitates a wider coverage of the trade restriction to prevent the entry of the HPAI virus and protect the health of the local population.
Laurel ordered the immediate suspension of the processing, evaluation of applications, and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance of the commodities originating from the two states of the US.
All shipments from California and Ohio that are already in transit, loaded, or accepted at Philippine ports before the official communication of the order to American authorities will be allowed, provided that the products were slaughtered or produced 14 days before the first outbreak in the particular locality.
According to DA, the US is the second-biggest supplier of imported poultry and poultry products to the Philippines, accounting for about 40% of the Southeast Asian country's total imported poultry meat.
On January 9, the Philippines stopped importing poultry products and domestic and wild birds from Belgium and France as the two countries reported bird flu outbreaks./.
