BANNED, too: Hog feeds, breeder pigs, semen materials and other pork products from Luzon, Mindanao, Region 8 or Eastern Visayas and countries that have been hit by the African swine fever (ASF).
Ceb Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia has expanded the pork ban based on Department of Agriculture (DA) Administrative Circular 12-2019 pertinent to the National Zoning and Movement Plan for ASF.
She issued Executive Order 8 that expands the ban and prohibits all airports, seaports and other gateways in Cebu from allowing the entry of the abovementioned products.
Under its zoning plan, the DA has classified the Philippines into zones with respective protocols to regulate the movement of pork and pork products around the country.
It has color-coded areas based on the extent of the ASF infestation.
The DA’s latest mapping showed that Luzon and Mindanao are now red zones, meaning that these are now ASF-infected.
Cebu Province is a dark green zone, which means it’s ASF-free.
Still at risk
But even with a dark green zone, Cebu remains at high risk, Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) chief Mary Rose Vincoy said Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020.
This is because Cebu has several points of entry that can be used by suppliers to gain entry for their deliveries coming from ASF- affected areas, she said.
Included in the expanded ban are live pigs, genetic materials such as boar semen, breeder pigs and boar that come from Luzon, Mindanao, Region 8 and other ASF-affected areas.
Commingled products are still banned.
Entry of supply will be allowed only if this comes from Cebu or from ASF-free areas. But the delivery or supply has to equipped with a veterinary health certificate, shipping permit and certificate of laboratory issued by the Bureau of Animal Industry, veterinary quarantine clearance, compliance as a breeder, and sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance.
Feeds
Vincoy said hog feeds are now prohibited because the virus may have infected the raw material of the feeds.
Hog feeds are made from a mixture of soya, bean, corn, wheat and copra mill.
If any of these raw materials came from an ASF-affected area and the delivery truck passed by an ASF-infected area, it could pick up the virus, Vincoy said.
DA 7 Regional Director Salvador Diputado pointed out the huge impact of the feeds ban on hog producers in Cebu.
If they can no longer buy feeds coming from Mindanao and Luzon, they will have nothing to feed their hogs, Diputado said in a telephone interview.
He couldn’t give data at the time of the call, but he said that Cebu gets its supply from Luzon and Mindanao.
The governor will meet with feed millers on Monday, Feb. 24, to get statistical reports on their plight. (MPS FROM ANV)