A TOTAL of 607.5 kilograms of frozen and processed pork in Davao Region were confiscated from January to May this year following a ban on the entry of pork from countries with African swine fever virus.
Ma. Teresa Bacayo, DA-Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI) Davao Region quarantine officer, said Wednesday, May 29, that the confiscated meat were from Hong Kong and China, hand-carried by passengers at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport.
"We have a very strong campaign against ASF because it is for the
protection of the P200-billion hog industry in the country," Bacayo said.
"Sa mga passengers from banned countries, dili nalang sa gyud sila magdala og meat kay dako ang risk and harm kung naay possible carrier of the virus (To the passengers coming from banned countries, we urged them not to hand-carry meat as this would pose risk and harm if there will be a possible carrier of the virus)," she added.
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), countries covered by the temporary ban on the importation, distribution, and sale of all processed pork products are China, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Zambia, South Africa, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Mongolia, Moldova, and Belgium.
Aside from banned countries, the agency said some of the meat confiscated and destroyed by burning were also from those who failed to provide sanitary and phytosanitary import certificate (SPIC).
DA-Disease Monitoring and Surveillance Section assured that there was no report of any possible ASF entry in the region yet but their monitoring on swine mortality remains strict.
"Right now, wala pa pong reported swine mortality in the region, negative din ang examination for foot and mouth disease. We do try talaga na iwasan na makapasok ang sakit sa Pilipinas," DA-Disease Monitoring and Surveillance Section head Armie Capuyan said in a phone interview.
Capuyan said they coordinate with the local government units and gave out information education dissemination materials to make the backyard and commercial hog raisers aware of the ASF and other diseases such as hog cholera, influenza, foot and mouth disease, among others.