The Philippines expanded the ban on pork imports to three more countries—Myanmar, Serbia and South Korea—affected by African Swine Fever (ASF).
These three countries were added in the updated list of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) contained 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 hasbanned 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.
“All district collectors, sub-port collectors and all other concerned are directed to coordinate with DA-BAI (the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Industry) personnel in all international air and sea ports for the conduct of rigid inspection especially on the checked-in and hand-carried luggage of all incoming passengers from ASF-affected countries, and confiscate and destroy all pork and pork-related products coming from the said countries within 24 hours from interception,” Dy Buco said.
In an earlier Aug. 27 memorandum, Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero also ordered to prohibit the discharge of kitchen leftovers, refuse and food waste from foreign aircraft and vessels to avoid ASF.
“Due to the growing concern on the continuous spread of ASF of which no treatment or vaccine has yet been developed, there is a clamor for the observance of stringent quarantine protocols. Consequently, kitchen refuse/leftovers/food waste, due to possible commingling with ASF-infected pork and pork-based products, from arriving foreign vessel or aircraft whose last port-of-call is an ASF-affected country is considered a high-risk path of introduction of the causal virus to the healthy population,” Guerrero explained.
Under Section 118(g) of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), Guerrero said these food wastes from ASF-affected countries are prohibited.