Sen. Francis Tolentino wants a Senate probe on the government’s policies to avoid an avian influenza flu outbreak in the country.
He noted that the high inventory of imported poultry products amid the unabated importation of finished goods “poses a significant threat to the immediate and long-term prospects of the local poultry sector in the county.”
He said this also puts consumers at risk of the potential adverse effect of other transboundary diseases. “This will also ultimately lead to adverse public health effects.”
According to the senator, there should be a clear and solid policy from authorities to avert and ward off any possible outbreak of transboundary animal diseases in the country. Macon Ramos-Araneta
“It is high time for the Senate to ensure that risk-based planning, strict prevention protocol, and proactive legislative action are in place to minimize public health risk and fundamentally, to accord our local poultry sector with the support and opportunity as active
partners in development and nation building,” Tolentino said in filing Senate Resolution No. 580.
Tolentino’s bill seeks to determine the appropriate government actions in preventing and controlling another possible outbreak of avian flu.
As of February 9, 2023, nine regions remain affected by the avian flu as per the Bureau of Animal Industry, while more than 300,000 poultry mortalities have been recorded since the outbreak of the said virus the country in 2022, according to the report submitted by the said agency to the National Banner Program Committee on Poultry and Livestock (NBPC on PL) on February 14 of this year.
The World Organization for Animal Health earlier cautioned that the presence of Avian Flu “may restrict international trade in poultry meat that can heavily impact economies.”
In May 2022, the A-H5 variant outbreak in wild birds and poultry has been reported to spread in 16 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, United States and Canada with the first human infection recorded in Ecuador in January 2023 and consequently, deaths of hundreds of sea lions and pelicans in Peru.
Tolentino has expressed concern on the matter especially over reliable reports that various commercial public wet markets in Metro Manila recently have revealed their respective inventories of imported chicken that either: (a) those that can be identified are from Brazil, USA, Netherlands and Canada with expiration dates ranging from 1 to 2 years from the date of production; (b) with no labels pertaining to production and distribution; and; (c) without sticker from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).
“The sale of the said imported poultry meat brazenly violates the provisions of the law under Republic Act No. 7394, or the ‘Consumer Act of the Philippines’… it fails to qualify with the Philippine National Standards on the Code of Hygienic Practice for the Sale of Fresh Agriculture and Fishery Products in Markets and Authorized Outlets,” the senator stressed.