November 26, 2009

Philippines lifts eight-year ban on Belgium cattle imports

Following a safety certification from mad cow disease that was issued by a global intergovernmental animal health authority, the Philippine government has finally lifted the eight-year ban on the importation of meat and meat products derived from cattle from Belgium.

In Memorandum Order No. 28, dated last October 21, the Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary Arthur Yap says the department will allow the importation of the following meat items, subject to the standards of Belgium's Federal Agency for Safety of Food Chain:

    -- Boneless and bone-in beef can be sourced from cattle of all ages, devoid of any nerves;

    -- Beef, whether boneless or bone-in, should come only form healthy ambulatory and not downer cattle; and

    -- The slaughter date of the cattle or the production date of the beef should be indicated on the packaging label.

Last May 20, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) formally declared Belgium as having a controlled bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) risk.

In July 2001, the Philippine government banned the importation of cattle meat and meat products from all countries in order to prevent the introduction of the BSE.

Recently, the government also lifted the eight-year-old ban on the importation of meat and bone meal (MBM) from the US. The Philippines lifted the ban on MBM from Australia last year and from New Zealand in 2007.

MBM, which can be fed to cattle as a protein source, is made of dried tissues from mammals, not including horn, hair, hide trimmings, manure and stomach content.