The Department of Agriculture (DA) has lifted the temporary ban on the entry of domestic and wild birds from Iowa and Minnesota, United States into the Philippines.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. had imposed the ban last year in response to an avian influenza outbreak in the two US states as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the virus domestically.
Tiu Laurel ordered on Tuesday, March 26, that live poultry, poultry products, and by-products like day-old chicks and hatching eggs can be imported to the Philippines effective immediately unless revoked by the DA.
“This decision was based on the official report of US veterinary authorities to the World Organization of Animal Health [WOAH] that all affected counties in Iowa and Minnesota had been free of the highly pathogenic avian influenza cases since January 10 this year,” he said.
The import ban was first announced last January 2024, seizing all products that came in November of last year.
The US is the Philippines’ major source of poultry products, as it has shipped a total of $180.5 million or around P10 billion worth of poultry meat and products, excluding eggs.