DA urged to ban entry of corn from bird flu areas

Corn farmers are asking the Department of Agriculture (DA) to ban the importation of corn and corn substitutes from bird flu endemic areas.

"Prohibiting the imports of corn from bird flu affected countries should be made a policy by the DA if we are to protect not just our industry but to prevent an outbreak of the disease," said Roderico Bioco, outgoing president of the Philippine Maize Federation (Philmaize).

The request is one of Philmaize’s resolutions submitted to Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban in the recent 4th National Corn Congress in Dagupan, Pangasinan.

Bioco explained that while migratory birds and the illegal trading of pet birds have been identified as carriers of the disease, government has yet to recognize the "real possibility" corn coming from affected countries could be contaminated with the bird flu virus.

"This is not just a trade issue. Migratory birds roam a lot and it would be very difficult to track exactly where they go or wander to from their usual migratory paths. If they just happen to fly by corn fields, there is no way one would be able to determine if there are bird droppings that could carry the bird flu virus. There are a whole lot of ways that contamination could take place, even in the transshipment process," noted Bioco.

The Philippines is one of few countries in the region that has been spared from the dreaded highly pathogenic H5N1 bird-flu strain that has devastated billion-dollar poultry farms across the globe.

Earlier, Philmaize asked the DA to conduct a thorough test on the corn shipments as their association have suspected that the recent corn shipments may have come from bird flu endemic areas in China and should be subjected to strict quarantine protocol.

"The DA has to ensure that the commodity did not come from an area that is affected by the bird flu virus," said Bioco.

The DA already tightened rules on the importation of animal feeds and ingredients rules as part of efforts to thwart all possible avenues for the entry of the dreaded bird-flu virus into the country.

It ordered all importers to secure a veterinary health certificate issued by a competent veterinary authority from the exporting country. The certification should include certification statements such as the sources of feed ingredients should come from areas not affected with the disease and at least 15 kilometers away from the declared quarantine-buffer zones; the feeds/feed ingredients should be properly stored for a minimum of two weeks prior to a shipment.

Moreover, the vehicles to be used in transporting the feed ingredients should be cleaned, free from organic matter and disinfected before loading. The transport value from the source to the shipping port should not pass through avian flu quarantined areas.

The DA is supposed to accredit a third-party or independent certification company to ensure these rules are complied with by importers.