Philippines temporarily bans chicken imports from Brazil

The Government of Philippines has issued a memorandum order placing a temporary ban on chicken imports from Brazil due to coronavirus scare.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar signed the memorandum order.

Philippines Department of Agriculture (DA) noted that the move, made as a precautionary measure, is in line with the country’s Food Safety Act of 2013.

It also follows after a number of online news agencies reported recently that SARS-COV-2 was detected on chicken wings imported from Brazil.

Section 10 of Republic Act 10611 or the Food Safety Act says: “In specific circumstances when the available relevant information use for in risk assessment is insufficient to show that a certain type of food or food product does not pose a risk to consumer health, precautionary measures shall be adopted.”

Additionally, the Philippines DA’s Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) is monitoring virus outbreaks in foreign meat establishments (FMEs).

To allow import meat products from FME’s into the country, DA considers the health status of workers at the meat facilities from where the meat is imported and also ensures that the facilities are in compliance with good manufacturing practices (GMP).

DA added that the chicken products that are currently available in the country are safe for consumption.

In January, the Department of Agriculture in the Philippines banned pork imports and related products from Indonesia.