September 13, 2004

Philippines Lifts Ban on Taiwan's Poultry Products

The Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) has lifted the ban on the importation of poultry products from Taiwan, on the basis of a report that it has already eradicated the bird flu plague.

The lifting of the ban was recommended by the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) which had earlier called for a ban on imports of all poultry products from Malaysia. The country is the latest of Southeast Asian countries infected by the avian influenza virus that ravaged billion-dollar poultry farms across Asia this year.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap cited in Memorandum Order 25 a report from the Office International des Epizooties, a Paris-based agency that monitors the outbreak of animal diseases, which said that Taipei has already eliminated the H5N2 type of avian flu in 24 premises in eight prefectures since April 21.

"Based on the extensive surveillance in the three-kilometer radius buffer zone around the index flock, they have not detected any evidence of the virus since March 9. On the evaluation of the BAI, the risk of contamination from importing poultry from Taiwan is negligible," he said.

However, all shipments should undergo proper importation procedures and conform with existing regulations of the DA, BAI and the National Meat Inspection Commission.

The DA previously denied the request of Taiwan and China to exclude them from the "hot list" of 12 countries afflicted with avian flu.

The other countries banned from exporting poultry products to the Philippines include Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos, Pakistan, Cambodia, Canada, the Netherlands as well as Texas and Delaware in the United States.