DA bans meat imports from South Korea

The Philippines imposed a temporary ban yesterday on the import of all hooved animals susceptible to foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease and their meat products from mainland South Korea due to the outbreak of the disease in that country, officials said.

Officials from the Bureau of Animal Industry said the ban included pigs, cattle, goat, sheep and buffalo and their meat products.

Earlier, Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor told a news conference he ordered quarantine inspectors to confiscate all shipments of affected products from South Korea, except Cheju island.

Montemayor also asked Bureau of Animal Industry Director Dr. Jose Molina to issue guidelines for the effective implementation of the ban.

A report from the Office International de Epizooties showed that it received on May 3, 2002 a report on the FMD from Dr. Hee-Woo Lee. A copy of said report was furnished to Dr. Ronel Abila, chief of the quarantine inspection service of BAI. The suspected cases of FMD were reported in a pig fattening holding at Samjuk, Anscong, Kyonggi-do province.

The Philippines bought 4,650 tons of pork and pork products from South Korea in the first four months of the year. In 2001, it imported a total 17,192 tons of the same products from South Korea.

The country was the latest to impose a ban on meat products from South Korea after that country confirmed an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in pigs and said it had discovered a suspected infection of a cow.

Japan halted imports of pork and pork products from South Korea last Friday.

Foot-and-mouth disease is not dangerous to humans but highly infectious and deadly to pigs, cattle, deer and other hooved animals.– Rose dela Cruz, Reuters