THE Interagency Task Force for the Management of Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has ordered the monitoring of swine farms and workers to prevent the entry and spread of a new strain of swine flu, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said yesterday.
The IATF, in Resolution 52, approved the recommendation of the Department of Agriculture to implement a “whole of nation approach” which includes creating interagency surveillance mechanisms for swine farmers and workers, especially those who are regularly exposed to pigs.
Roque said IATF also directed the DA, the Department of Health, and the Bureau of Customs to ensure the strict implementation of Republic Act No. 10611 or the Food Safety Act of 2013.
The move aims to prevent the entry of swine and swine products to the country and prevent the spread of the “G4” strain of H1N1.
Department of Agriculture spokesman Noel Reyes said the importation of swine and other pork products, especially from China, has been banned since last year due to the Africa swine flu.
He said the government is especially guarding against unscrupulous importers who try to mix or hide imported pork products in the shipments of imported chicken and beef.
Last month, a study in China said a new flu virus found in pigs has become more infectious to humans and needs to be watched closely in case it becomes a potential “pandemic virus.
It said the G4 strain of H1N1 has “all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus.”
Reyes assured the public that the country still has ample supply of rice with about 2.7 million metric tons, or a buffer stock good for 82 days.
He said most of the rice supplies are in households or commercial shops. He said most NFA rice is now being kept as buffer stock.
To boost the country’s supply of food items, especially of rice and other agriculture crops, the government distributed 2.26 million bags of certified inbred rice seeds to farmers in 968 municipalities.
This accounts for 97 percent of the targeted 1,000 municipality beneficiaries from 55 provinces, said Flordeliza Bordey, deputy executive director of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), during the “Laging Handa” public briefing.
Bordey said the distribution was made in June in time for the cropping season. She said farmers who were not included in the distribution will be prioritized in the free seed distribution for the October planting.
The inbred rice seeds, under the Seed Program of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, are guaranteed to increase yield by 10 percent. RCEF is a component of the Rice Tariffication Law.
Bordey said farmer-beneficiaries listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture, who use the “Lipat Tanim” or transplanting method, received a 20-kilogram bag of seed for every half hectare of cultivated area, or up to a maximum of six bags for those who have rice fields larger than 2.5 hectares, while farmers who used the “Sabog Tanim” method or direct-seeding method received a 40-kg bag of seed for every half hectare.
