The Philippines can resume poultry imports from Illinois and Minnesota, United States, following resolved bird flu cases, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. signed Department Circular (DC) 41, which authorized the entry of birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs, and semen from Illinois and Minnesota.
This reversed the previous temporary restriction imposed on Illinois last March and on Minnesota last year when these US states reported bird flu outbreaks.
The DA decided to lift the ban after US veterinary authorities reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) that outbreaks of High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI) in affected counties have been resolved, with no additional cases detected.
‘All import transactions of the above commodities shall be in accordance with
existing rules and regulations of the Department of Agriculture.’
Since the US has a regionalization agreement with the Philippines, state-wide trade restrictions would only be imposed if there are three or more counties affected by bird flu.
A regionalization agreement means the Philippines will restrict shipments of certain products only from areas with active cases of a transboundary disease instead of imposing a country-wide ban, in order to maintain trade.
The move ensures sustained poultry trade, since imposing a temporary ban on the entire country limits sources of raw materials, which could potentially affect prices.
‘The occurrence of HPAI from exporting countries and the imposition of a whole-country temporary ban limits the sources of day-old chicks, parent stocks and poultry meat, which in turn affects the prices.’
Other DA-accredited countries that have already secured a regionalization agreement with the Philippines include Chile, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Russia, Poland, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Belgium.