After over five months, the Department of Agriculture has lifted the temporary ban on the importation of live cattle and meat products from the United Kingdom, according to DA’s media release Wednesday.
In Memorandum Order 45 signed October 11, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu-Laurel lifted the import ban after the UK’s official reports to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) showed that showed that the mad cow case “has ended with resolved status and no additional outbreaks after 07 August 2024.”
Tiu Laurel added that UK authorities also provided evidence to show that food safety measures are in place and are equivalent to guidelines in the Philippines.
The DA chief said that as a country recognized by the WOAH with “negligible” risk of the mad cow disease, “the acceptance of all in-transit and incoming shipments from the United Kingdom may commence provided with verified equivalence from the United Kingdom Veterinary Authority.”
It will be recalled that on May 30, the DA ordered a ban on importation of live cattle, meat and meat products, bovine processed animal proteins and semen derived from cattle originating from the UK in response to reported cases of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, in the kingdom.
According to the United Nations Comtrade database on international trade, the Philippines’ 2023 meat and edible meat offal imports from UK was at US$30.96 million.
