PH bans poultry from Minnesota, US due to bird flu

The Philippine government, through the Department of Agriculture (DA), is banning the importation of poultry and poultry by-products from the State of Minnesota in the US due to the outbreak of bird flu.

In a statement on Wednesday, the DA said Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. issued Memorandum Order No. 29, which directed the immediate ban on the entry of domestic and wild birds as well as their by-products from Minnesota, following the state’s report of confirmed High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 cases.

The import ban covers domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, eggs, day-old chicks and semen.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) submitted an official report to the DA which showed confirmed cases of H5N1 infections in three counties in Minnesota as of June 12, 2024.

The Agriculture Department said, based on a 2016 agreement between the Philippines and the US, a statewide ban may be imposed by the DA if there are at least three counties affected by HPAI.

Moreover, the USDA-APHIS has reported the HPAI cases to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). 

HPAI is a notifiable disease with zoonotic potential, which means it could be passed on to humans.

Following USDA’s report, the DA said Tiu Laurel ordered the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to immediately suspend the processing, evaluation of applications, and issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary iImport Clearances (SPSIC) for those agricultural products.

However, shipments from Minnesota that are already in transit, loaded or accepted unto port before the imposition of ban “shall be allowed provided that the products were slaughtered/produced 14 days before the first outbreak” from the place of origin.

The DA said shipments that don’t comply with the conditions set in the import ban may either be returned to the port of origin or condemned.

Just in March of this year, the DA lifted the import ban on Minnesota, which was earlier imposed due to an avian influenza outbreak.

In 2023, the Philippines imported 166,356 metric tons of poultry products worth $175.8 million from the United States, which is the second-largest supplier of poultry meat imports accounting for 39% of overseas purchases. --VAL, GMA Integrate News