December 14, 2010

 

Philippines impose temporary poultry ban against Canadian province

 

 

The Philippines will be forbidding poultry and poultry products from Canada's Manitoba, after a temporary ban was issued by the Department of Agriculture due to a reported bird flu outbreak in the area.

 

Memorandum Order No. 26, issued Nov. 26 by Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala, aims to protect the local poultry industry from Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza, a form of virus.

 

"There is a need to prevent the entry of Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza virus to protect the health of the local poultry population," the order read.

 

The Philippines, along with Brunei and Singapore, are the only Bird Flu-free countries in Southeast Asia, data from the World Organization for Animal Health, also known by its French acronym OIE, showed.

 

Mr Alcala said the Philippines imposed the ban following a report from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency about an outbreak of the disease in a commercial poultry operation in the municipality of Rockwood in Manitoba.

 

Mr Alcala, thus, ordered "banning the importation of domestic and wild birds, and their products, including day old chicks, eggs and semen from Manitoba, Canada; immediate suspension of the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of Veterinary Quarantine Clearance to import the mentioned commodities from the area."

 

Moreover, the halt and confiscation of all poultry and poultry products shipments from Manitoba, Canada at all major ports were also ordered.

 

"This order shall take effect immediately," the memorandum read.

 

Since January, the department has ordered the temporary ban on the entry of poultry and poultry products from South Korea, Taiwan, Bhutan, Naevstved in Denmark, Bergamo in Italy, and North Brabant in Netherlands in separate orders.

 

Meanwhile, the department has lifted the temporary ban on the entry of poultry from Turkey, Germany, France and Spain, in separate orders since January. The department removed the ban on said countries after successful eradication of the Bird Flu virus.

 

The country has imported a total of 61,420 tonnes of poultry and poultry meat in 2009, 43% higher than the 43,010 tonnes imported in the previous year, data from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics showed.

 

The World Health Organization reported that as of March 30 this year, there were 492 laboratory-confirmed cases of bird flu and 291 fatalities from the disease since the H5N1 strain of the virus broke out in Southeast Asia in 2003 and then spread across the rest of the continent, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.