PH lifts ban on entry of Belgium poultry products

The country is now allowing the entry of domestic and wild birds and their products from Belgium after the areas in the country that were earlier exposed to bird flu have already been cleared from the virus.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) this week lifted the temporary ban on the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen originating from Ootskamp and Menen in West Flanders, Belgium.

Based on the final report submitted by Jean-Francois Heymans, Director of Animal Health and Safety Products of Animal Origin under the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain in Bruxelles, Belgium to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) events in the aforementioned areas are now closed and resolved.

OIE is an inter-governmental organization that informs governments of the occurrence of animal diseases and of ways to control these diseases.

It coordinates the conduct of studies devoted to the surveillance and control of animal diseases and of harmonizing regulations to facilitate trade in animals and animal products.

Meanwhile, based on the evaluation of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), the risk of contamination from importing poultry and poultry products from Ootskamp and Menen is indeed “negligible.”

Covered by the lifting of the importation ban are poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen.

All import transactions of the above-mentioned products will be allowed according to the existing rules and regulations of the DA, BAI, and the National Meat Inspection Service. (MBM)