The Department of Agriculture (DA) has ordered a temporary ban on the importation of domestic and wild pigs, including pork meat, pig skin, and semen from Spain following an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in that country.
In Memorandum Order No. 75, series of 2025, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. directed the immediate implementation of emergency measures to prevent the entry of the ASF virus into the Philippines.
The order, dated December 4, 2025, covers all domestic and wild pigs, their products and by-products, including pork meat, pig skin, and semen originating from Spain, in line with the World Organisation for Animal Health Terrestrial Animal Health Code on ASF.
The move follows an official report from Spanish authorities to the World Organisation for Animal Health on an ASF outbreak affecting wild pigs in Sabadel, Valles Occidental, Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain, confirmed on 26 November 2025.
The DA cited its legal mandate under Executive Order No. 292 and the Charter of the Bureau of Animal Industry to block animal products from countries with dangerous communicable animal diseases.
All existing Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearances (SPSICs) for domestic and wild pigs and their products from Spain are automatically revoked under the order.
Shipments already in transit will either be released or returned to origin depending on their production dates and the timing of loading or acceptance at port, while all shipments loaded after the effectivity of the order will be sent back to origin.
Citing the high resistance and prolonged survivability of the ASF virus in frozen meat, the DA also prohibited the importation of frozen pork shipments from Spain and ruled out a “test and release” protocol.
The order further suspends the processing and issuance of SPS import clearances for covered commodities and directs veterinary quarantine officers at all major ports to stop and confiscate affected shipments, effective immediately until revoked in writing.