MANILA has lifted a temporary ban it imposed on poultry meat and other poultry products from Manitoba, Canada, following the confirmation that the area is already free from avian influenza (AI).

Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala issued Memorandum Order 10, which lifted the temporary ban and effectively allows poultry products from Manitoba, Canada, to again re-enter the Philippines. 

“Based on the evaluation of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), the risk of contamination from importing poultry and poultry products from the province of Manitoba, Canada, is negligible,” said Alcala in his memorandum. 

Manila imposed the temporary ban on Manitoba, Canada, in the last quarter of 2010 due to the outbreak of low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) in a poultry farm in Rockwook.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) noted that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) conducted surveillance in the province of Manitoba in the three months following the cleaning and disinfection of the infected premises.

 All samples collected from the area tested negative for notifiable AI.

“In compliance with Article 10.4.3.2, Chapter 10.4 [avian influenza] of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the Office Internationale des Epizooties, Manitoba, Canada, is now free of NAI,” the memo read. 

Canada is a major source of poultry meat for the Philippines. The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI), however, could not state the volume of poultry products the country sources from the province of Manitoba. 

Manila issues a temporary ban on poultry products from countries with confirmed cases of the AI virus to protect its own poultry industry and safeguard the health of Filipinos.

The Philippines is one of the few countries in Asia that has not been ravaged by the avian influenza (AI) virus.

According to the World Health Organization, the virus has already killed more than 200 people since the H5N1 strain broke out in Southeast Asia in 2003. 

It also crippled the poultry industries of neighboring Asian countries such as Indonesia and Thailand when the virus spread within their borders.