MANILA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines has imposed a temporary ban on the importation of poultry and poultry products from Japan due to an outbreak of bird flu there, the Philippines' Department of Agriculture said Thursday.
The department said Philippine Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel signed the order on Wednesday to immediately suspend the issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance for the inward shipment of wild birds, poultry and poultry products from Japan.
"Only wild birds, poultry, and poultry products imported from Japan that are already in transit, loaded, and accepted on or before Nov. 10, 2023, will be allowed entry to the Philippines," it said.
Shipments after Nov. 10, 2023, will either be returned to Japan, or confiscated and destroyed, it added.
The Japanese authorities detected an outbreak of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus strain in Kashima City, Saga prefecture, on Nov. 24, 2023. Japan reported the outbreak to the World Organization for Animal Health on Nov. 28, 2023.
"There is a need to prevent the entry of the HPAI virus to protect the health of the local poultry population," Laurel said.
The Philippines has imposed similar bans on imports from California and Ohio in the United States, as well as those from Belgium and France due to bird flu outbreaks. ■