DA bans bird imports from Belgium

MANILA, Philippines — Following the outbreak of bird flu in Belgium, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. yesterday ordered a ban on the importation of both wild and domestic birds from the European country.

Tiu Laurel, in memorandum order 20, said the local poultry industry must be protected from the HPAI virus and, thus, the need to prevent the entry of wild and domestic birds from Belgium.

He said the ban covers wild and domestic birds and avian products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen.

Tiu Laurel ordered authorities to immediately suspend the processing and evaluation of applications for sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances for these agricultural products.

“The poultry industry plays a critical role in the country’s food security, job creation and investment generation within the agricultural sector,” Tiu Laurel said.

For shipments that were in transit, loaded or accepted at the port before the import ban, Tiu Laurel said these would be allowed entry “provided the products were slaughtered or produced before Feb. 3 of this year.”

“Shipments not meeting these conditions will either be sent back to Belgium, shipped to a third country or seized and destroyed. Veterinary quarantine officers are required to confiscate all non-compliant shipments, except for heat-treated products,” he said.