Department of Agriculture bans poultry products from northern Italian city

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agriculture has imposed a temporary ban on the entry of birds and poultry products from Bergamo in Lombardy, Italy, in line with the government’s continuing effort to keep the Philippines free of bird flu or avian influenza (AI).

Agriculture Secretary Bernie Fondevilla said the ban was based on official reports from the World Organization on Animal Health or Office International des Epizooties (OIE) which confirmed outbreaks of the AI virus in the area.

A report submitted by the European Commission’s Health and Consumers Directorate General to the OIE detailed the presence of low pathogenic AI in two separate poultry holdings in Bergamo.

 The DA directed its quarantine officers and inspectors at all major airports and seaports to stop and confiscate all shipments of live birds, poultry and poultry products into the country originating from Bergamo.

It also ordered the immediate suspension of the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of veterinary quarantine clearances (VQCs) to all imports covering these products from the banned area.

Fondevilla said the ban on bird and poultry imports from Bergamo, along with other emergency measures, is necessary to protect the poultry industry in the Philippines, which has remained free of bird flu.

The Philippines, Brunei and Singapore are the only AI-free countries in Southeast Asia.