THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has halted poultry imports from four US states to prevent the spread of bird flu in the Philippines.
The DA issued an import ban through Memorandum Order No. 11, covering domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs, and semen, from Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
The order was issued following reports of several outbreaks of “highly pathogenic avian influenza” in the US on February 3rd, affecting domestic birds.
The DA imposed the ban to prevent the entry of avian influenza “and protect the health of the local poultry population,” according to the directive signed by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on February 18th.
The agency immediately suspended the “processing, evaluation, and issuance” of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances for the mentioned goods.
“All veterinary quarantine officers/inspectors will stop and confiscate poultry deliveries from these American states at all major ports of entry,” the Secretary stated.
However, the import restriction will not apply to shipments from the four US states “that were in transit, loaded, or accepted unto port before the Philippine government transmitted the order to American authorities.”
“The ban excludes such commodities as long as the products were produced or slaughtered 14 days before the first reported outbreak. Illinois recorded its first outbreak on Nov. 14, 2024, followed by Minnesota on Nov. 26, 2024; Ohio on Dec. 13, 2024, and Wisconsin on Dec. 10, 2024,” according to the DA.
Previously, the DA lifted import bans on poultry products from Ohio in June 2024 and Minnesota in November 2024.
US and Philippine veterinary authorities signed an agreement in 2016 stating that “a state-wide ban will be implemented only if three or more countries are affected by avian influenza” in a state.
“The above-mentioned state has three (3) or more counties affected with HPAI as reflected in their official reports in the WOAH (World Organization for Animal Health),” the memo states.
Meanwhile, the US is one of the Philippines’ major meat suppliers, holding a 15.2% export market share in the past year.
“Meat imports rose by 20.8 percent to 1.45 million metric tons (MT) in 2024 from 1.2 million MT a year ago,” according to data from the Bureau of Animal Industry.
