THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has lifted the temporary ban on imports of poultry products from Hungary, which is now free from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) or bird flu.
“In accordance with the provisions of the World Organisation for Animal Health Terrestrial Animal Health Code, Hungary is now free from HPAI,” according to the memorandum order.
The HPAI events in Hungary that led to the import suspension order are now deemed resolved, it added.
According to the DA, the risk of contamination from Hungarian imports is “negligible.”
The DA imposed its ban in December on Hungarian domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day old-chicks, eggs and semen. The government also lifted the ban on poultry imports from the US and Japan in August, after both countries were declared HPAI-free. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson