DA lifts import ban on animals from Hungary
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has lifted its temporary ban on the importation of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)-susceptible animals, and their products and by-products from Hungary.
The order was issued through DA Department Circular 34, Series of 2026, signed by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on July 8.
The ban was imposed in March last year through DA Memorandum Order 16, Series of 2025, after Hungary’s veterinary authorities reported FMD cases in domestic buffaloes in Kisbajcs, a small village in Győr-Moson-Sopron County in northwestern Hungary, to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).
The Veterinary Diagnostic Directorate of Hungary’s National Food Chain Safety Office confirmed the cases.
FMD mainly affects cattle, but can also infect other cloven-hoofed animals such as pigs, goats and sheep. It is rarely transmissible to humans, but has a high death rate, particularly in young animals, and poses significant economic risks to the agricultural industry.
The DA said Hungary’s authorities applied to reinstate the FMD-free status of the containment zone. The WOAH Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases reviewed the application and, under Resolution 19 of 2026 (93rd General Session, May 2026), determined that the zone meets the Terrestrial Code’s requirements for restoring FMD-free status where vaccination is not practiced, in accordance with Chapter 8.8 of the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code.
This prompted the DA to lift the ban, though all import transactions must still comply with existing rules and regulations.
The order takes effect 15 days after publication on the DA’s official website and the filing of three copies with the Office of the National Administrative Register at the University of the Philippines Law Center, Diliman, Quezon City.
