MANILA —The Philippines’ Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Wednesday it has banned imports of domesticated and wild birds, including poultry meat and eggs, from California and Ohio in the United States because of several outbreaks there of highly pathogenic avian influenza.
According to Memorandum Order No. 03 signed on Jan. 15, the temporary importation ban covers domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen.
The DA immediately suspended the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance for poultry imports originating from California and Ohio.
However, the order excludes shipments that are in transit, loaded or accepted unto port as long as these were slaughtered or produced 14 days before California’s first avian flu outbreak on Nov. 20, 2023 and Ohio’s first outbreak on Nov. 21, 2023.
The agency made the issuance as American authorities informed the World Organization for Animal Health of several outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) subtype H5N1 affecting domestic birds. —Jordeene B. Lagare with a report from Reuters
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