OIE urged to declare RP FMD-free

The Philippines is firming up its petition before the international animal health agency Office International des Epizooties (OIE) to declare the country as a Foot and Mouth Disease-free (FMD-free) zone.

"In a few months’ time, we expect to hurdle the last holdout in our efforts to become a one hundred-percent FMD-free country. Luzon, the only problematic area now has been free from FMD for eight months now and if this continues we expect to be able to report this and file a petition with OIE to grant the Philippines an FMD-free certification that would allow us to move on with plans to export pork products," said Agriculture Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban.

The DA’s Agricultural Marketing and Assistance Service is now exploring lucrative markets in Asia such as Singapore and China which previously expressed interest in getting part of their processed pork requirements from the country.

Panganiban said a number of the country’s major processed pork companies are already gearing up for the export market with their facilities upgraded to comply with international standards.

"Our processing sector has grown to be very competitive. It is now at par with any nation’s meat processing industry, for that matter, having acquired the best facilities available in the international market. If not for the FMD problem, we would have exported pork products a long time ago," noted Panganiban.

The OIE requires countries wanting to engage in the pork export trade to submit a comprehensive report attesting that their respective countries have had no incidents of FMD for at least two years.

The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) which is tasked to monitor problematic areas has set up a farm accreditation team to report FMD incidences and at the same time certify pig farms that are free from the disease.

BAI is also currently profiling conditions of slaughterhouses and other livestock establishments as part of the groundwork for the country’s bid to acquire an FMD-free zone certification from the OIE.

Earlier, the BAI-led National FMD Task Force strictly imposed basic control and prevention measures on FMD such as the All-In-All-Out policy, cleaning and disinfection of livestock premises, documentation of transported animals and active monitoring.

FMD outbreaks had been on steady decline since 1995 – from 1,553 cases to 328 cases in 2000 continuing its downtrend reaching 123 cases in 2004. As of August 2005, only 39 cases were reported so far.