RP bans pork products from Japan, Korea

Posted May 27, 2010 18:04:00

Riza T. Olchondra

Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines is imposing a temporary ban on the importation of pork products originating from Japan and South Korea, which were found to have cases of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in hogs.

Agriculture Undersecretary for Livestock and Fisheries Salvador Salacup said in an interview that the temporary ban was imposed after the Office Internationale des Epizooties (OIE) confirmed the outbreaks of FMD.

"The ban will stay in place until the OIE declares South Korea and Japan are already free from FMD," Salacup said.

In late April, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) called for heightened surveillance against FMD after reports showed three cases of FMD outbreaks in Japan and South Korea.

FAO noted that the outbreaks happened despite the strict bio-security measures in Japan and South Korea.

"We are worried because the rigorous biosecurity measures in place in the two countries were overwhelmed, pointing to a recent, large-scale weight of infection in source areas, very probably in the Far East," FAO's chief veterinary officer Juan Lubroth said in a statement.

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