The Department of Agriculture (DA) imposed a temporary ban on the importation of live cattle and buffalo, as well as their products, from Japan due to the outbreak of lumpy skin disease.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. issued memorandum order no. 57 citing that the import ban is essential to protect the local cattle and water buffalo populations from the virus causing lumpy skin disease.
DA said in a statement yesterday the disease primarily affects cattle, often leading to severe complications or death with symptoms including fever, nodules on the skin and internal organs, significant weight loss, swollen lymph nodes and fluid accumulation under the skin.
Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reported the outbreak of the disease in Maebaru, Fukuoka to the World Organization for Animal Health on November 15, 2024.
In addition to live animals, the ban also extends to cattle and water buffalo products and by-products that also includes unpasteurized milk and milk products, embryos, skin and semen used for artificial insemination.
However, certain products are exempted from the ban, provided they meet Philippine import and health standards which include skeletal muscle meat, casings, gelatin, collagen, tallow, hooves, horns, blood meal, flour, bones, hides and pasteurized milk.
Based on data from the Bureau of Animal Industry, as of end-October 2024, Japan has supplied the Philippines with a total of 84,299 kg of beef for the period.
The said amount is equivalent to 0.05 percent of the total 167,548,286 kg of imported beef that entered the country for the first ten months of the year.
