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Led by the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI), the Philippines has started laying the groundwork to establish the first border inspection facilities in the country’s major ports, starting at the Manila International Container Port.
The border inspections will be conducted on all animals, plants, fisheries, and related agricultural products arriving from other countries, helping prevent the entry of trans-boundary animal diseases such as foot and mouth disease (FMD), avian influenza, and African swine fever (ASF).
The inspection facilities will also be put up at Manila South Harbor, Subic Freeport Zone, Port of Batangas, Cebu International Port, and Port of Davao.
Each facility — to be manned by at least 39 technical personnel— will house an Agriculture Commodity Examination Area (ACEA) to allow the thorough inspection of the contents of high-risk containerized agricultural shipments. Each inspection facility will also have a laboratory to immediately test samples from commodities suspected to carry animal, fish or plant pests or diseases and other hazardous contents. A crematorium will also be in place to ensure safe disposal of confirmed agricultural commodities with quarantine violations, if these cannot be returned to origin.
The Duterte administration has allocated P2 billion for the establishment of the five ACEAs.
July 10, 2020/ Department of Agriculture/ Philippines.
https://www.da.gov.ph/
