AGRICULTURE Secretary William Dar yesterday ordered a temporary ban on the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products including poultry meat, day old chicks, eggs and semen originating from Frodsham England, United Kingdom and Mitoyo City, Kagawa, Japan due to the outbreak of avian influenza virus in said countries.
In two separate Memorandum Orders No. 62 and No. 63, Series of 2020, Dar explained that there is a need to ban the entry of said products to prevent the entry of H5N8 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus and protect the health of the local poultry population.
Memorandum Order No. 62 states that based on the official report submitted by Dr. Norio Kumagai, chief veterinary officer of Japan’s Food Safety and Consumers Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, to the World Health Organization on Nov. 4, 2020, there was an outbreak of HPAI virus Mitoyo City, Kagawa affecting broilers.
Memorandum Order No. 63 stated that based on the official report submitted by Dr. Christine Middlemiss, chief veterinary officer of United Kingdom’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to the World Health Organization on Nov. 2, 2020, there was an outbreak of HPAI virus in Frodsham, England affecting broiler breeder rearing birds.
In both memorandums, Dar also ordered the immediate suspension of the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) import clearance to the said commodities.
He further ordered the stoppage and confiscation of all shipments of said product, with the exception of heat-treated products, into the country by all veterinary quarantine officers/inspectors in all major ports of entry.
