Bird flu outbreak triggers import ban on Japanese, German poultry — DA

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has banned temporarily the importation of poultry and poultry products from Japan and Germany amid avian flu concerns.

In separate memorandum orders signed by Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol on Dec. 8, the DA said it banned the importation of domestic and wild birds including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs, and semen from the two countries.

Based on the reports submitted to the World Organization for Animal Health, there were outbreaks of the H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza ( HPAI) virus in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig- Holstein, two states in northern Germany, as validated by its national laboratory, the Friedrich- Loeffler Institute.

Cases were confirmed in Aomori-shi city in Aomori prefecture and Sekikawa-mura village in Niigata, Japan as reported by an Aomori local laboratory and Japan’s national laboratory, respectively.

Through the order, Mr. Piñol issued an immediate suspension of the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) import clearances for the affected commodities.

Mr. Piñol added that all such shipments face confiscation, with the exception of heat- treated products, at all major ports.

Frozen poultry meat with slaughter and process dates 21 days prior to the HPAI outbreak are allowed to enter the country but subject to quarantine rules and regulations. —