Bird flu prompts DA ban on poultry imports from Minnesota

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has imposed a temporary ban on poultry imports from Minnesota in the United States after the American state reported confirmed cases of bird flu.

The import restriction covers domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs, and semen, according to the DA’s Department Circular No. 55.

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Following this issuance, the agency immediately suspended the processing and evaluation of applications and the issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance (SPSIC).

The DA also revoked all approved SPSICs for poultry imports from Minnesota. It will still allow shipments that were in transit, loaded, or accepted at port on or before the order took effect, provided producers slaughtered or processed the poultry on or before Aug. 18.

Veterinary quarantine officers or inspectors will stop and confiscate poultry exports bound for the Philippines at all major ports of entry, except for heat-treated products.

The DA enforced the import suspension after American authorities recorded several outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) affecting domestic birds in Wright, Big Stone, Kandiyohi, Otter Tail, Becker, Ravalli, and Benton counties.

Manila and Washington forged an agreement in 2016 under which the Philippines will impose a statewide ban only if HPAI infects three or more counties in one state.

“The rapid spread of H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in the United States of America (USA) in a short period of time since its first laboratory detection necessitates a wider coverage of trade restrictions to prevent the entry of HPAI virus and protect the health of the local poultry population,” the DA said in its order.

Meanwhile, in separate issuances, the DA allowed the resumption of poultry imports from Germany and Peru years after imposing the import restriction to safeguard the local industry from bird flu.

The DA issued Department Circulars No. 54 and 56 lifting the temporary ban on importing domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen, noting that the risk of contamination is “negligible.”

The agency lifted the import ban after Germany and Peru declared themselves free of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

Authorities from Germany and Peru informed the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) that they had resolved all avian influenza cases and recorded no new outbreaks.

“Nonetheless, all import transactions of the above commodities slaughtered/produced after the issuance of this circular may commence again in accordance with existing rules and regulations of the (DA),” the circular read.

The DA enforced the temporary import ban on poultry exports from Germany in February  2020 after the European country recorded a bird flu outbreak affecting birds in Bretzfeld, a municipality in Hohenlohekreis district of Baden-Württemberg.

Meanwhile, the DA suspended poultry shipments from Peru in December 2022 after the South American nation detected HPAI outbreaks in domestic birds.

Existing laws authorize the DA to temporarily restrict imports of agricultural products to protect the domestic sector from animal diseases.

However, for exporting countries with a regionalization agreement with the agency, the import suspension will apply only to areas or zones with active disease outbreaks.

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The regionalization deal aims to ensure continuous trade in pork and poultry and their by-products, subject to import terms and conditions and the DA’s existing regulations.

Berlin has a similar arrangement with Manila for African swine fever, under Department Circular No. 18 signed in April this year.

Data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) show that Germany, which the Philippines accredits as a pork supplier, shipped 1.47 million kilograms of pork from January to August. /pai