April 18, 2008

Philippines resumes poultry imports from Italy

The Philippine authorities on Thursday said poultry imports from Italy have resumed after bird flu was eliminated in the European country.

Agriculture secretary Arthur Yap ordered the lifting of the ban based on Bureau of Animal Industry's evaluation that the risk of bird flu from Italian poultry products is negligible.

The Philippines is one of only three bird flu-free countries in Southeast Asia. The two others are Brunei and Singapore.

The Philippine government had earlier lifted import bans of poultry from South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Poland.