Department of Agriculture Memorandum Order No. 73 Series of 2020, Temporary Ban on the Importation of Domestic and Wild Birds and their Products Including Poultry Meat, Day-Old Chicks, Eggs and Semen Originating from Menen, West Vlaanderen, Belgium

The Order, signed on 14 December 2020, institutes the following emergency measures for the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products from Menen, West Vlaanderen, Belgium:
1) Ban on the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen;
2) Immediate suspension of the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of SPS import clearance for the above-stated commodities;
3) All incoming poultry meat shipments with SPS import clearance issued on or before 8 December 2020 will be allowed provided frozen poultry meat has a slaughter/process date of 21 days prior to the start of the HPAI outbreak (on or before 29 October 2020).  All shipments will be subject to veterinary quarantine rules and regulations;
4) Stoppage and confiscation of all shipments of the above-stated commodities (with exception on heat-treated products) into the country by all Veterinary Quarantine Officers/Inspectors at all major ports of entry if the provisions written in Item 3 are not followed;
5) Importation of meat products of poultry is subject to the conditions provided in Articles 10.4.19, 10.4.20 and 10.4.26 of the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code (2019).