DA bans entry of poultry products from Japan
AGRICULTURE Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has ordered a temporary ban on the importation of poultry and poultry products, including eggs and day-old chicks, from Japan due to avian influenza outbreak.
Laurel also immediately suspended the issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance for the inward shipment of wild birds, poultry and poultry products from Japan.
In the same order, it stated that only wild birds, poultry, and poultry products imported from Japan that are already in transit, loaded and accepted on or before Nov. 10 will be allowed entry to the Philippines.
Shipments after Nov. 10 will either be returned to Japan, or confiscated and destroyed.
The import ban was imposed after Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reported an outbreak of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza to the World Organization for Animal Health on Nov. 28.
The Japanese agency’s report showed an outbreak of the H5N1 strain after wild and domesticated birds on Nov. 24 in Kashima City in Saga Prefecture.
Laurel said the import ban was necessary to protect the local poultry population.
