THE Philippines has banned the importation of poultry products from France and Belgium as these countries are experiencing outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).

The ban imposed by the Department of Agriculture will immediately stop the acquisition of both domesticated and wild birds from the two European countries.

It also prevents traders from bringing in French and Belgian poultry products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, hatching eggs, and poultry semen, into the Philippines starting January 8, 2024. 

Meat imports already in transit, loaded, or accepted before the ban took effect will still be allowed to enter the Philippines if the poultry were slaughtered or the products were produced on or before November 12, 2023, in the case of France, and November 16, 2023, for Belgium.

All imports after these dates will not be considered upon arrival in the country, except for heat-treated products.

“We’re doing this to protect the health of our local poultry population as well as poultry workers and consumers since H5N1 is a virus that can be transmitted to humans by infected animals,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement on Tuesday.

France and Belgium, which share a border, reported the bird flu outbreak in domestic birds to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) on November 30, 2023, and December 1, 2023, respectively.

In 2023, Philippine importation of poultry meat totaled 426,620 metric tons valued at US$418,130,353.

France and Belgium make up 0.01% and 0.59% of all imports, respectively.