Cebu City ‘copies’ Cebu Province EO on bird flu

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu City government has adopted Cebu Province’s move extending the ban on entry of live poultry and wild birds from areas affected by avian influenza.

Mayor Michael Rama explained that this move is consistent to the notion of “one Cebu island approach.”

“One Cebu island approach. Whatever is the direction of the Cebu province, I hope the tri-cities (Cebu City, Mandaue City, and Lapu-Lapu City) will likewise adopt the extension of banning the entry of live poultry and wild birds from areas affected by Avian influenza,” Rama said in yesterday’s press conference.

Rama said he will no longer be issuing an executive order regarding this concern as he will just adopt Governor Gwendolyn Garcia’s Executive Order No. 14.

The mayor expressed confidence that the city’s chief of Division of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries, Dr. Jessica Maribojoc, is doing her job well, seeing she is proactive.

“Jessica is proactive and very much empowered at her level of discipline. I'm pretty sure she is doing her job... I'll call her up and tell her to look at it (Garcia’s EO), copy and implement it… I don’t have to be issuing an executive order for that matter. It’s by adoption,” said Rama

Garcia issued Executive Order No. 14 on May 23, 2022 imposing an indefinite ban on the entry of live birds (poultry and non-poultry) from Luzon, Mindanao and countries with bird flu cases.

The ban includes “day-old chicks, day-old pullets, ready-to-lay pullets, ducks, quails, game fowls, pigeons and pet birds.”

As per Garcia, the Province of Cebu continues to be free from Avian Influenza virus and the recent AI outbreaks from provinces of Luzon and Mindanao which pose an imminent threat to the P12 billion poultry industry of Cebu.

Garcia’s EO

The latest EO issued by the governor extends the validity of the previous EO issued by the same last month.

Under the said order, transportation of live birds from Visayas are allowed to enter Cebu provided that the shipper or trader will present a veterinary health certificate from the Provincial Veterinarian; veterinary / shipping permit by the Bureau of Animal Industry or Deputized Veterinary Quarantine Officers; ELISA/ HI/ RT-PCR negative laboratory test result on avian influenza; certificate of AI-free status from the Provincial Veterinarian certifying that no avian influenza outbreak that has occurred in the source farm in the past seven days and Local Transport Permit issued by the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources for wild and domestic birds.

For game fowls, the negative laboratory test result on Avian Influenza should be valid for six months from the date of last sample collection.

For day-old chicks, the result should be valid 28 days from the date of last sample collection and seven days validity for ready-to-lay pullets.

Domestic poultry meat and imported poultry meat, meanwhile, are allowed to enter Cebu as long as requirements like the meat inspection certificate from National Meat Inspection Service and Veterinary shipping permit have been complied with.

Processed poultry and canned poultry products are also allowed provided that a license to operate and a certificate of product registration issued by the Food and Drug Administration are presented.

The transportation and movement of table eggs, salted eggs, quail eggs, and hatching eggs, and embryonated eggs are allowed subject to requirements like a veterinary health certificate, veterinary shipping permit and RT-PCR negative test on avian influenza from the sourced flock.

“Hatching eggs shall be put in plastic trays and containers for easier cleaning and disinfection” the EO states.

Imported poultry from countries with no cases of bird flu are also allowed provided that these requirements are presented -- SPS import clearance, landing permit, notice of quarantine and veterinary shipping permit--upon inspection by authorities.

The arrival of these imported birds and poultry should also be coordinated with the Cebu Provincial Veterinarian. As to the poultry by-products, the transportation, shipment and movement of dung, manure, and feather are allowed to enter Cebu. ---  Decemay P. Padilla, JMD (FREEMAN)