PH adds Myanmar, Serbia, South Korea to pork import ban list

The Philippines has expanded the ban on pork imports to three more countries—Myanmar, Serbia and South Korea—with African Swine Fever (ASF) cases.

The three countries were added to the updated list of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in a Sept. 18 memorandum issued by Deputy Commissioner Edward James A. Dy Buco to all district and sub-port collectors.

To date, the Philippines banned importation of pork and pork-based products from 22 countries and territories, which also included Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Hungary, Laos, North Korea, Latvia, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Zambia.

The memo said all Customs personnel will conduct “rigid insoection” at air and sea ports of all check-in and hand-carried luggage from the countries on the list and seize all pork and pork-related products.

In an earlier Aug. 27 memorandum, Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero also barred the discharge of kitchen leftovers, refuse and food waste from foreign aircraft and vessels to avoid ASF.

The order said it was in response to “a clamor for the observance of stringent quarantine protocols.”

Under Section 118(g) of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), Guerrero said these food wastes from ASF-affected countries were prohibited.

The CMTA had empowered the BOC to not only exercise supervision and control over the entry and clearance of foreign aircraft and vessels but also mandated the agency to help enforce port quarantine regulations, Guerrero noted./TSB