The Department of Agriculture (DA) has lifted the temporary import ban on poultry products from Ukraine after the country regained its freedom status from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) or bird flu.
Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar issued Memorandum Order (MO) 47 that authorized the lifting of the temporary import ban on domestic and wild birds and their products from Ukraine.
The DA based the MO on the final report submitted by Ukrainian veterinary authorities to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), disclosing that its previous HPAI outbreaks are now “closed and resolved.”
Citing the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code of 2019 Chapter 10.4 article 10.4.3, the DA noted that Ukraine is now free from HPAI.
“Based on the evaluation of the Department of Agriculture, the risk of contamination from importing poultry meat, day old chicks, eggs and semen is negligible,” Dar said in the MO dated August 23.
“By the power vested in me by law, do hereby lift the temporary ban on the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products originating from Ukraine,” he added.
The MO stipulated that poultry imports from Ukraine “shall be in accordance with existing rules and regulations” of the DA and the Bureau of Animal Industry.
Ukraine was temporarily banned from exporting any poultry products to the Philippines from January 30, 2020 after it confirmed and reported bird flu outbreaks. Ukraine is not a major source of the country’s poultry imports.
The Philippines imposes a temporary import ban on countries that have confirmed bird flu outbreaks to prevent the entry of the animal disease in the country and protect domestic poultry population.