FOUR more countries are temporarily prohibited from bringing in their processed pork meat products into the Philippines after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) included them in the list of those afflicted by the African swine fever virus (ASF).
Based on FDA Advisory No. 2019-229, FDA OIC Director-General Eric Domingo said they have included Hong Kong, North Korea, Laos, and Germany in the list covered by the temporary ban.
"In the interest of consistency and coherent efforts in preventing the entry of the African Swine Fever virus, the FDA hereby expands the temporary ban on the importation, distribution, and sale of all processed pork meat products from the mentioned countries," said Domingo.
He said that the inclusion of the four countries is in accordance with the memorandum orders of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Countries already covered by the temporary ban are China, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, Zambia, South Africa, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Mongolia, Moldova, and Belgium.
The agency also said that the public should avoid purchasing and consuming processed pork meat products sourced from countries covered by the ban.
"The public is advised to exercise extreme caution in purchasing and consuming processed pork meat products and is advised to only consume processed pork meat products, which are sourced from countries other than the mentioned countries suspected to be affected by the ASF virus," said the FDA.
The ASF is a highly contagious haemorrhagic viral disease that affects domestic and wild pigs. However, it is not considered a threat to humans. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)