The Philippines has imposed a temporary ban on all imports of pork and live pigs from Spain. The measure, announced by the Department of Agriculture, is a response to the confirmation of an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in the European country. The ban, effective immediately, covers a wide range of products, including live pigs, pork meat, skin, and semen used for artificial insemination, Argentina News Agency reported.
Preventive measure and supply security Secretary of Agriculture Francisco Tiu Laurel defended the moratorium as a necessary action to prevent the entry of the ASF virus and to protect both domestic and wild pig populations in the Philippines. The Department of Agriculture issued the ban after Spanish veterinary authorities notified the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) on November 28 about the detection of ASF cases in wild pigs in Sabadell, Vallès Occidental, Barcelona. Despite the measure, Tiu Laurel assured the press that the freeze on imports will not cause shortages or price increases during the Christmas season. "The cold storages are full," stated Tiu Laurel, emphasizing that the inventories are more than sufficient to meet the projected increase in Christmas demand.
Restrictions and returns To safeguard food security and public health, all sanitary and phytosanitary permits for shipments of pork from Spain have been automatically revoked. The directive sets strict deadlines for merchandise already produced: only frozen pork products produced on or before November 11, and that have been loaded, are in transit, or have been accepted at port on or before December 4, will be allowed to enter the Philippines. Any shipment produced after November 11 will be returned to Spain.
