The Department of Agriculture (DA) in the Philippines has decided to temporarily stop importing animal products from Germany due to recent cases of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) reported there. This action is taken to protect the health of animals in the Philippines.
On January 10, 2025, Germany notified the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) about confirmed cases of FMD in buffaloes in a town called Hoppegarten in Brandenburg. Following this report, the DA issued a ban on February 10, 2025, which will stay in place until Germany is recognized as free of FMD by WOAH.
The import ban covers a wide range of products from animals that can catch the disease, such as meat, casings, fat, hooves, and horns, as well as live pigs, cows, and water buffaloes. However, some items are still allowed, like UHT milk and its products, heat-treated meats in sealed containers, protein meal, gelatin, bovine embryos, and certain types of hides and leather, as long as they meet the rules set by the Philippines.
Deliveries that are already on their way or at ports are also allowed, as long as they come from animals that were slaughtered before December 26, 2024.
Foot-and-mouth disease is a very contagious viral illness that mainly affects hooved animals like cows, pigs, sheep, goats, and buffaloes. While adult animals can often recover, young ones may have a high risk of death from the disease.
In 2024, the Philippines imported about 3,177.5 metric tons of beef from Germany, which was roughly 0.5% of the country’s total beef imports. Germany had also been a major source of pork for the Philippines until 2020, when a separate ban was placed due to an outbreak of African Swine Fever there.
The DA has also put a hold on the processing and approval of import permits for the affected products. They will keep an eye on the situation and provide updates to protect the local livestock industry.
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