Pigs, pork products from SG safe for entry into PH
The Department of Agriculture (DA) is now allowing the entry of live pigs and pork products from Singapore months after imposing an import ban as it sees little to no risk from African swine fever (ASF) from these.
In a memorandum order dated Dec. 21, the DA said it was lifting the temporary ban on the importation of domestic and wild pigs and their products and byproducts including pork meat, pig skin, porcine processed animal proteins and semen originating from Singapore.
The agency said its evaluation showed the risk of contamination from swine commodities sourced from its neighboring country “is negligible.”
The DA issued the memo as Singapore is now free from ASF in accordance with the World Organisation for Animal Health’s (WOAH) Terrestrial Animal Health Code.
Singaporean authorities informed the WOAH that all ASF reported events had ended and no additional outbreaks were reported.
Back in February, Singapore reported an ASF outbreak in a nature park in North-West Singapore affecting wild boar.
The DA then imposed a temporary import ban on Singaporean pork products as a preventive measure to curb the spread of the animal disease even though the latter is not an accredited exporter.
Still, the agency had cited the need to impose regulatory controls through sanitary and phytosanitary measures to protect human and animal health.
In the Philippines, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry, there are still active ASF cases in nine regions, 18 provinces, 58 municipalities and 134 barangays as of Nov. 29. INQ
