DA bans meat imports from Netherlands, Germany

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has temporarily banned the importation of meat products, chickens, wild bird, day-old chicks and milk and other dairy products from The Netherlands and Germany because of the reported outbreak of the avian flu virus.

Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. issued a memorandum calling for the ban on these products after the Paris-based Office International des Epizooties confirmed an outbreak of "highly pathogenic avian influenza virus" which was earlier reported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries of The Netherlands.

On the recommendation of Animal Industry Director Jose Q. Molina, Lorenzo also banned the importation of meat and meat products from Germany which exports feeds to the poultry and livestock industry of The Netherlands.

There are reports that some farms in The Netherlands were contaminated with dioxin introduced through imported feeds from Germany.

Dioxin is one of the most toxic chemicals known which the US Environmental Protection Agency described as a serious public health threat. It can cause immune system damage and interfere with regulatory hormones.

Lorenzo directed the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to immediately suspend the processing, evaluation and issuance of veterinary quarantine clearance and international veterinary certificate import permits from The Netherlands and Germany.

The memorandum order also calls for the stoppage and confiscation of all shipments into the Philippines of affected products from the two countries by all DA veterinary quarantine officers and inspectors at all major sea and airports.

Lorenzo said the ban has to be imposed to protect consumers as well as the domestic poultry and livestock industry from the possible contamination of dioxin.

In 2000, the Philippines banned all meat imports from Europe and later confined the ban to Belgium because of feeds contaminated with dioxin.

On the other hand, the avian flu virus could be fatal if chicken infected with the virus are ingested by humans. Similar episodes of highly pathogenic avian flu occurred in Hongkong in the last two years .

BAI quarantine chief Ronel Avila said that the avian flu strain found in The Netherlands – H7 affects poultry as compared to the H1 strain in Hong Kong which could be transmitted to humans.

The country last year imported 1.813 million kilograms of pork, poultry meat and turkey meat from Germany.

On the other hand, last year’s imports of bellies, pork cuts, processed meat, rind/skin from The Netherlands totaled 2.387 million kgs.

Aside from meat and meat products, the country also imports substantial quantities of milk and other processed dairy products from The Netherlands.