Gov’t lifts poultry import ban on Brazil

After five months and a legal battle between the governments of the Philippines and Brazil, the Department of Agriculture has finally lifted the temporary ban on the importation of poultry meat originating from the South American country.

“Based on the relevant information provided by Brazil, there is satisfactory evidence to show that food safety measures in compliance with good manufacturing practices are primarily considered in the daily operations of [their] foreign meat establishments,” the memorandum order released on Wednesday read.

It was in August when Agriculture Secretary William Dar announced that it would ban the importation of Brazilian poultry products except mechanically deboned meat until it was satisfied with how the Brazilian government was handling the coronavirus outbreak in its meat-exporting plants.

It was also based on the laboratory detection in China of SARS-COV-2 in imported chicken wings from Brazil.

All these prompted Brasilia to lodge a complaint against the Philippines at the World Health Organization, describing the ban as “unjustified” and an “undue barrier” to trade.

The Philippines buys about 20 percent of its poultry meat imports from Brazil, making it an important trade partner especially for meat processing groups.

Following the lifting of the ban, all import transactions of poultry meat from Brazil subject to legal procedures would now be continued.