February 5, 2004

Philippines Issue New Guidelines On Canadian Beef Imports

The Philippine Department of Agriculture said Thursday it will implement stricter measures on Canadian beef imports to prevent the entry of mad cow disease.

A memorandum order signed by Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo contained the new import guidelines covering beef imports from Canada.

Lorenzo said the stricter measures were necessary, as "there were reported cases of mad cow disease in Canada, and there is increasing scientific evidence that the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans could probably be transmitted by eating mad cow affected animals."

Under the new set of guidelines, "only deboned and deglanded beef from cattle not older than 30 months, devoid of any nerves and other BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) or mad cow specified risk materials, shall be imported."

The guidelines also stipulate that beef imports should come only from healthy ambulatory and not downer cattle.

Also, the age of the cattle shall be certified by the Canadian Department of Agriculture or a third party certification company to be accredited by the Philippine Department of Agriculture to be not older than 30 months.

The Philippines imposed an import ban on Canadian beef imports in May last year following a reported outbreak of mad cow disease in Alberta province. The ban was lifted in August.

In 2002, the Philippines imported 767,222 kilograms of cattle parts from Canada. From January to May 5 last year, the country imported 474,709 kg of Canadian beef parts.