March 9, 2023

Philippines ban pork imports from Singapore

The Philippines' Department of Agriculture has banned pork imports from Singapore following an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) detected in that country, The Manila Times reported.

Domingo Panganiban, The Philippines' Agriculture Senior Undersecretary issued Memorandum Order 20, implementing a temporary ban on imports of domestic and wild swine and their products and by-products. This includes pork meat, pig skin, porcine processed animal proteins and semen originating from Singapore.

Panganiban said Singapore does not export any swine-related products to the Philippines, but there is a need to prevent any ASF-susceptible products that may be hand-carried into the country through international entry points.

He said in order to protect both human and animal health, regulatory controls must be implemented through sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures.

He announced the immediate suspension of SPS import clearance processing and the seizure of all shipments of Singapore pork products into the nation.

Panganiban also ordered a temporary ban on the import of cattle from Spain, following an outbreak of atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (H-type), also known as mad cow disease, in Pontevedra, Galicia on January 21, 2023, which affected domestic and meat by-products, including bovine processed animal proteins and semen.

-      The Manila Times