Philippines bans German pork imports over ASF fears

Europe is certainly fearful of pork imports from Asia, but it appears the opposite also rings true, after the Philippines banned meat imports from Germany.

The ban was imposed due to fears of African swine fever spread, after the authorities discovered a shipment of pork from Germany co-mingled with 250kg of pork from Poland, where ASF continues to be a problem. 

Philippines Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol issued a temporary suspension of system accreditation for all German foreign meat establishments to export meat into the Philippines, according to national media reports.

The shipment was intercepted last week and subsequently incinerated after the Polish product was discovered, according to the report. 

“This action was a result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau Animal Industry following the confiscation of a shipment of pork supposedly coming from Germany which included 250 kilograms of pork from Poland,” Mr Piñol said.

“The investigation showed that a shipment of pork from Germany was intercepted by Cebu Quarantine officers after it was discovered that the shipment included 25 boxes of pork from Poland,” Piñol said.

“The German company, ProFood, admitted that it imported pork from Poland and part of the importation was shipped to the Philippines,” he said.

Ronnie Domingo, the director of one of the investigating agencies, said the incident of co-mingling was a serious violation which warranted the banning of all pork shipments from Germany.

The Philippines has already banned imports, due to ASF fears, from China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, North Korea, Laos, Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Moldova, South Africa, Zambia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belgium, Latvia, Poland and Romania.