The Philippines has suspended imports of live animals and selected animal products from seven countries following confirmed outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the restriction covers Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait and Palestine.
Under Department Circular 39 signed by Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr., imports of live swine, cattle, water buffaloes and other FMD-susceptible animals from the affected areas are prohibited.
The ban also covers fresh skeletal muscle meat, casings, tallow, hooves, horns and animal semen originating from the seven countries.
An official report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations confirmed outbreaks of the FMD virus serotype SAT1 in the affected countries.
The cases were validated through laboratory testing in coordination with the World Organization for Animal Health’s (WOAH) reference laboratory network.
‘The Philippines has worked hard to protect its livestock sector from devastating animal diseases. Acting swiftly against emerging risks is essential to safeguarding food security, protecting farmers’ livelihoods and preserving public confidence in our food supply,’ the DA chief said.
Products classified by WOAH as ‘safe commodities,’ however, may still enter the country subject to strict import requirements. These include ultra-high temperature milk and dairy products, heat-treated canned meat, protein meal, gelatin and certain processed hides and leather products.
Such products must meet prescribed veterinary certification and processing standards.
‘We are taking a science-based and precautionary approach. While we remain committed to facilitating safe trade, protecting the health of our livestock industry must always come first.’
FMD is a highly contagious disease affecting cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, pigs, goats, sheep and buffaloes.
While it poses no public health risk and is not considered a food safety concern for humans, outbreaks can disrupt livestock production, raise production costs and inflict heavy losses on farmers.
Veterinary quarantine officers have been instructed to stop and confiscate prohibited shipments from the affected economies arriving at Philippine ports.
The Philippines was nearly brought to its knees by the devastating FMD outbreak in 1995. It reached epidemic proportions, spreading to 27 provinces and setting the highest number of recorded outbreaks in one year at 1,553.
At the peak of its outbreak in 1995, the DA noted that FMD caused an estimated P2 billion in direct losses to the hog sector. The government had to spend hundreds of millions of pesos to bankroll measures that sought to eliminate FMD in commercial and backyard hog farms.
It took six years for the Philippines to wipe out the disease and obtain FMD-free without vaccination status from WOAH.