Dept. of Agriculture issues temporary ban on US poultry

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has temporarily banned the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products from the US following an outbreak of the Newcastle disease.

In a memorandum order recently issued by the Office of the Secretary, the DA instituted the ban on importation of domestic and wild birds, including game fowls from Southern California in the US.

Based on official data from the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, there has been a number of confirmed incidences of Virulent Newcastle Disease in Southern California that affects backyard exhibition chickens.

The interstate movement of game fowls poses risk to the spread or break out of the disease.

According to the DA, there is a need to prevent incursion of the disease into the country and provide the appropriate level of protection to the estimated P100 billion poultry industry.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol issued an immediate suspension of the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) import clearance to poultry products.

Piñol said there would be stoppage and confiscation of all shipments of the commodities into the Philippines by all DA veterinary quarantine officers at all major ports.