Notifications for Philippines (277 notifications)

The Order imposes additional measures to ensure proper cold chain management, thereby safeguarding food safety of food commodities.

The Circular prescribes a remedial process to facilitate cargo release processing in international ports of consignments lacking original IVC/HC document due to disruption in the operation of courier services amid Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) imposed in the country due to COVID-19 pandemic. The Philippines will accept electronic copy of the HC as long as the authenticity will be confirmed by the veterinary authority of the source country.

Department of Agriculture Bureau of Animal Industry Memorandum Order No. 17 Series of 2020 Extension of Validity of BAI Issuances Nos. 5, 6, 10 and 15 Series of 2020.

Revisions to the contact details of the National Veterinary Quarantine Service Division: National Veterinary Quarantine Services Division Bureau of Animal Industry Visayas Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City Tel: +(632) 528 2250 Email: baiquarantinephvhc@gmail.com / baiquarantineph@gmail.com

Revisions to the contact details of the National Veterinary Quarantine Service Division:   National Veterinary Quarantine Services Division Bureau of Animal Industry Visayas Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City Tel: +(632) 528 2250 Email: baiquarantinephvhc@gmail.combaiquarantineph@gmail.com

Department Circular No. 6 Series of 2020 Rules and Regulations Governing the Importation and Exportation of Plant Food

The Circular declares the Bureau of Animal Industry's Acceptance of electronic Export Health Certificate/International Veterinary Health Certificate from the Competent Authority of source country as equivalent of the paper certificate under specific conditions to facilitate the import of animal commodities despite the Enhanced Community Quarantine due to COVID-19.

The Circular provides detailed instructions as guidance in the acceptance of electronic export health certificate during the enhanced community quarantine period.  Electronic health certificates (E-HC) may be submitted by the Veterinary Authority of source country by providing online validation link and instruction on how to access the certificate.  In the absence of electronic verification system, the authentication of these certificates may be coursed through their Authorized Representative in respective Philippine-based embassy.  The submission of original HC  by the Veterinary Authority will follow once the courier services has resumed normal operations.  All related communications regarding E-HC shall be coursed through government veterinary office and representatvie using their official address to:  Florence D. Silvano, DVM, PhD, Chief, National Veterinary Quarantine Services, baiquarantinephvhc@gmail.com.  The acceptance of E-HC in applicable shipments is valid during the period of Enhanced Community Quarantine which will end on 30 April 2020, unless otherwise revoked earlier or extended.  Thereafter, procedure will revert to the default processing using paper Health Certificates.

Knowing that other countries are implementting measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, BPI will accept scanned copies of important documents (e.g. Phytosanitary Certificates, Treatment Certificates, and Health Certificates etc.,) given however, that an official notification from the exporting country will be provided to BPI. Scanned/PDF copies may be sent to this email address: pqsbpi@yahoo.com.

The Order bans the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen, and immediately suspends the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary import clearance for the aforementioned goods. All shipments of the said commodities into the country will be stopped and confiscated by all Veterinary Quarantine Officers/Inspectors at all ports.

The Order bans the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen, and immediately suspends the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) import clearance for the said goods.  All incoming poultry shipments with SPS import clearance issued on or before 11 February 2020 will be allowed provided frozen poultry meat has a slaughter/process date of 21 days prior to the HPAI outbreaks (on or before 15 January 2020), and will be subject to veterinary quarantine rules and regulations.  All shipments of the said commodities into the country, except heat-treated products, shall be stopped and confiscated by all DA Veterinary Quarantine Officers/Inspectors at all major ports if they do not follow the previously stated provisions.

The draft standard targets to ensure high level of food safety and  to promote fair trade. The Order is promulagated to serve as a guide for manufacturers, traders, importers/distributors of Salabat or Instant Ginger Drink. The following provisions of the draft Administrative Order are relevant to food safety: VI.2. Food Additives; VI.3. Quality and Safety Criteria; VI.3.2 Microbiological Properties; VI.4. Defects; VI.6 Contaminants; VI.7. Hygiene; VI.9.2. Recommended Methods of Analysis.

The Order bans the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen, and immediately suspends the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) import clearance for the aforementioned commodities.  All shipments of the said goods into the country will be stopped and confiscated at all major ports by all DA Veterinary Quarantine Officers/Inspectors.

The Oder bans the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen from Hungary. It also immediately suspends the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) import clearance for the said goods. All shipments of the aforementioned commodities into the country shall be stopped by all DA Veterinary Quarantine Officers/Inspectors at all major ports.

The Order bans the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen from Slovak Republic and immediately suspends the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) import clearance of the said goods.  All shipments of the aforementioned commodities into the country will be stopped and confiscated by all DA Veterinary Quarantine Oficers/Inspectors at all major ports.

The Order lifts the temporary ban on the importation of domestic and wild pigs and their products including pork meat and semen from Czech Republic.  Based on the submitted self-declaration of the recovery of freedom from African Swine Fever (ASF) in all suids by Dr. Zbynek Semerad, Director General, State Veterinary Administration, Ministry of Agriculture, Czech Republic, OIE Delegate for Czech Republic to the World Organisation for Animal Health, the ASF events affecting wild boars in Czech Republic (with previous banning order: DA MO No. 30, series of 2018) are now closed and resolved.

The Order bans the importation of domestic and wild birds and their product, including poultry meat, day-old chicks and semen from Poland and immediately suspends the proessing, evaluation of application and issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary import clearance of the aforementioned goods.  All shipments of the said commodities into the country, with the exception of heat-treated products, shall be stopped and confiscated by DA Veterinary Quarantine Officers/Inspectors at all major ports of entry.   Frozen poultry meat with slaughter/process date of 21 days prior to the HPAI outbreaks are  allowed to enter the country subject to veterinary quarantine rules and regulations.  Importation of meat products of poultry is subject to the conditions provided in Article 10.4.19, 10.4.20 and 10.4.26 of the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Codce (2019).

The Order bans the importation of domestic and wild pigs and their products, including pork meat, pig skin and semen.  It also immediately suspends the processing and evaluation of the application and issuance of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) import clearance of the aforementioned goods.  All shipments of the said commodities into the country will be stopped and confiscated by DA Veterinary Quarantine Officers/Inspectors at all major ports.

The Order implements revised requirements for registration and renewal of importers of plants, planting materials and plant products and validity period of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance (SPSIC) for rice.  Pursuant to the pertinent provisions of Republic Act No. 11203 and in consonance with Section 4 of the Guidelines on Importation, the actual product/consignment must be shipped out from the country of origin within the prescribed date in the approved SPSIC and must arrive not later than sixty (60) days from the Must Ship Out date.

The Circular prohibits the unloading of food wastes from ships and directs Veterinary Quarantine Officers at various Veterinary Quarantine Stations to monitor that no food wastes are unloaded.