The Philippine government has placed stricter airport security measures versus the entry of deadly pork disease African Swine Fever (ASF) and it wants the cooperation of all international airlines.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said in a Facebook post that he already asked Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade to require all airlines flying to the Philippines, especially those from ASF-hit countries, to issue advisories to passengers against bringing meat into the country.
Last week, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered the recall and seizure of all pork meat products, including canned goods, imported from countries hit by ASF. These countries are China, Vietnam, Hungary, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Sambia, South Africa, and Ukraine.
Piñol said that starting this week, there will be meat sniffing dogs in all major airports to inspect passengers arriving in the country.
Forwarding and cargo companies have also been advised not to accept cargo shipments containing pork and pork-based processed products, while there is now a plan for DA to acquire several X-ray machines to ensure thorough checking of the baggage of incoming passengers.
Quarantine efforts have been strictly employed by the quarantine officers of DA’s Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) following the rapid spread of ASF in China and other Asian countries.
“While it has not been proven to be harmful to humans, ASF could wipe out a country’s hog industry as there is no known vaccine or cure for it,” Piñol said.
For instance, China has already culled almost 40 percent of its hog population, pushing its inflation rate high during the first three months of the year. Vietnam, on the other hand, has just culled two million pigs. (Madeleine Miraflor)