THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said it lifted a ban on bird product imports from Israel and the US state of South Dakota, following the successful containment of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in those locations.
Veterinary authorities in Israel and South Dakota had reported zero new cases of bird flu since mid-July to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), fulfilling a key condition for such bans to be lifted.
The import ban had included domestic and wild birds, poultry meat, day-old chicks, hatching eggs, and semen for artificial insemination.
It marked the latest instance of a ban being lifted since the recent removal of a ban on such products from Argentina. — Andre Christopher H. Alampay