Philippine bans poultry imports from Russia

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture (DA) has issued a temporary ban on the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products from Russia following an outbreak of an avian virus in that country.

In a recent memorandum order issued by the Office of the Secretary, the DA instituted the ban on the importation of domestic and wild birds, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen from Moscow Oblast and Tatarstan.

Based on the report submitted to the World Organization for Animal Health, there were 15 outbreaks of H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus, which affects birds.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol issued an immediate suspension of the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance to the commodities.

Piñol said there would be a stoppage and confiscation of all shipments of the commodities, with the exception of heat-treated products, into the Philippines by all DA veterinary quarantine officers at all major ports.

Frozen poultry meat with slaughter and process date of 21 days before the HPAI outbreaks can enter the country but subject to quarantine rules and regulations.

The memorandum orders, issued to prevent the entry of HPAI virus to protect the health of the public and the local poultry population, take effect immediately.

On the other hand, the DA has lifted temporary ban on poultry imports from Spain and the Netherlands after these countries were cleared of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Based on the evaluation of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), the risk of contamination from importing poultry and poultry products from the two countries is “negligible.”

All import transactions will now be allowed according to the existing rules and regulations of the DA, BAI and the National Meat Inspection Service.