MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has banned meat products from 23 countries due to concern over the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the local animal industry.
The DA, through Department Circular 46, banned the importation of FMD-susceptible animals, their products and by-products from Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Eswatini, Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia.
FMD-susceptible meat products from Cambodia, Jordan, Malaysia and Vietnam were also banned.
The agency said that cases of the FMD virus were reported in the 23 countries, citing official reports from the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) through its World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS).
The cases were confirmed through laboratory diagnosis by their respective reference laboratories, in coordination with the World Reference Laboratory for Foot-and-Mouth Disease and the WOAH reference laboratory network.
“There is a need to prevent the entry of the FMD virus to protect the health of the FMD-susceptible animal population,” the DA said.
The Philippines has prohibited the entry of skeletal muscle meat, casings, tallow, hooves and horns, along with live swine, cattle and water buffalo.
The agency has directed veterinary quarantine officers and inspectors at major ports to immediately halt and seize any intercepted shipments of the prohibited products.
However, certain processed goods, such as ultra-high-temperature milk and its derivatives, heat-treated meat items, protein meal (gelatine) and lime-treated hides and pelts are still allowed to enter the Philippines.