DA lifts poultry import ban on 2 US states

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has now allowed the importation of poultry and its products from two US states, following the termination of the high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) or bird flu outbreak.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has lifted the temporary ban on imported domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen from Minnesota and Illinois.

Department Circular (DC) 41 stated that all import transactions of the commodities should be in accordance with the existing rules and regulations of the DA.

The agency added that authorities in the two states have successfully contained the outbreak of HPAI in the two states, and no additional outbreaks have been reported.

The agency previously imposed a temporary ban on all shipments of poultry and its products from Minnesota and Illinois under DC 15 and DA Memorandum Order 67.

The country has a regionalization agreement with the US, a scheme that no longer imposes a country-wide ban on poultry imports during outbreaks of bird flu.

The policy instead restricts shipment only from areas with active animal disease cases.

“As a country recognized with HPAI regionalization arrangement with the Philippines, state-wide trade restrictions shall only be imposed if there are three or more counties affected by HPAI,” the DA said.

The DA has secured regionalization agreements with several other countries, including Spain, Germany, Poland, the UK, the Czech Republic and Brazil, among others.

The agency had previously released regionalization guidelines to ensure a sufficient supply of meat to the country and safeguard prices from surging.

The Philippines has imported about 105,389 metric tons of meat from the US as of the first half of 2026, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry.