The Philippines has temporarily banned poultry imports from Indiana, New York, and Pennsylvania due to the bird flu outbreaks in these U.S. states.
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In a memorandum dated March 4, Philippine Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said the ban covers domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs, and semen originating from the three states.
He noted several outbreaks of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza in the three states in January and February.
The memo said that the "rapid spread" of bird flu in the U.S. in a short period since the first laboratory detection necessitates a wider coverage of trade restrictions to prevent the entry of this virus and protect the health of the local poultry population.
With the import ban, the Department of Agriculture immediately suspended the processing, evaluation of applications, and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance for these commodities.
The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced that it has suspended import of poultry meat and products from areas in the United States.
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The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced on March 4 that in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in areas in the United States (US), the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the relevant areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.
The relevant areas are as follows:
State of New York
• Kings County
• Queens County
State of Maryland
• Worcester County
State of Colorado
• Weld County
State of Pennsylvania
• Dauphin County
• Cumberland County
• Lebanon County
• Lancaster County
• Lehigh County
State of Missouri
• Barry County
State of Indiana
• LaGrange County
• Elkhart County
State of North Carolina
• Sampson County
A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 79 630 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat, and about 19.6 million poultry eggs from the US last year.
"The CFS has contacted the American authority over the issue and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said. ■