PORK, pork products and live pigs from Cebu province and Cebu City are not allowed entry into Bohol effective March 7, 2023.
Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado announced this through an executive order he issued on Tuesday, March 7, stressing that the prohibition is part of the province’s intensified efforts to prevent the entry of African swine fever (ASF), which was recently detected in Carcar City, Cebu.
Aumentado, in his Executive Order (EO) 11, also said that swine feeds and frozen semen from Cebu Island are also prohibited from entering Bohol.
Transport vehicles or carriers are allowed only at the port areas in the province, while imported pork meat passing through Cebu will be allowed entry only if the boxes or packages containing the products undergo inspection at accredited cold storage facilities in Bohol.
“To minimize the negative impact on the local supply of swine feeds, the province of Bohol shall source swine feeds from other safe areas,” EO 11 stated.
The ban was made as Aumentado met with department heads of the Province following the confirmation made by Cebu Provincial Veterinary Office head Dr. Mary Rose Vincoy on Monday, March 6, 2023, that pigs in a slaughterhouse in Carcar City in southern Cebu have tested positive for the ASF virus.
Vincoy said the pigs that tested positive came from Negros Island and were slaughtered along with pigs in Carcar City.
With this, the Provincial Government of Bohol said that members of the Strategic Command Group of the Inter-Agency Task Group met to draw contingency plans “to strengthen prevention and establish preparedness and response measures.”
“The Provincial Government of Bohol considers African swine fever as a serious concern to protect the P6 billion, more or less, hog industry affecting not less than 46,000 hog raises in the entire province,” stated the EO.
The Provincial Veterinary Office of Negros Oriental, meanwhile, has called for an emergency meeting with all pork and pork products stakeholders, such as grocery stores, cold storage facilities, meat shops and transport in the province to talk about a possible pork ban.
Negros Oriental is eyeing a 45-day ban on entry of live hogs, pork and pork-related products and by-products, including frozen boar semen from Cebu Province and all ASF-affected areas, through all its ports and boundaries. (LMY)