RP now capable of hiking chicken exports

The Philippines is now in a strong position to increase its exports of poultry following the outbreak of bird flu in Indonesia, Japan and the United Kingdom.

The Philippines, along with Singapore and Brunei, continue to remain free from the feared bird flu virus.

In an interview with The STAR, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the Philippines is ready to compete in supplying poultry products to its ASEAN neighbors.

"With the bird flu outbreak in ASEAN, there is now a big market for us to go into," Yap said.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) had imposed last month a ban on the importation of live birds along with poultry and its products from Japan following official reports on the presence of the avian influenza (AI) or bird flu virus in that country.

Yap said the ban was necessary to protect human health and the poultry industry in the Philippines.

The H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus reemerged in Asia in 2003, but the Philippines has remained free of the dreaded virus.

The ban, which took effect last month, was based on a Jan. 13 report submitted by the Japanese government to the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) or Animal Health Organization attesting to the presence of a highly pathogenic strain of the AI virus in Japan.

Yap said "there is a possibility that travelers may bring in pet birds, poultry and poultry products from Japan. Thus, I have ordered DA quarantine officers and inspectors at all major airports and seaports to stop and confiscate all shipments of poultry and poultry products into the country originating from Japan."

Yap said the ban covers all "domestic and wild birds and their products, including day-old chicks, eggs and semen from Japan."

Yap has also ordered the immediate suspension of the issuance of veterinary quarantine clearances (VQCs) to all imports covering these products from Japan.

On Nov. 27 last year, Yap issued a similar ban on all live bird and poultry imports from Korea after the presence of the bird flu virus was detected in that country.