THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has temporarily banned imports of domestic and wild birds and their products from Indiana in the United States, following outbreaks of H5N1 High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI) or bird flu in the state.
The restriction order was signed March 3 by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., through Department Circular 10, series of 2026.
“The rapid spread of HPAI in the US in [a] short period of time since its first laboratory detection necessitates a wider coverage of trade restriction to prevent the entry of the HPAI virus and protect the health of the local poultry population,“ the order states.
Reports on Feb. 23 quoted Indiana’s veterinary authorities regarding the outbreaks, which the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa confirmed.
A mutual agreement in 2016 between the Philippines and the US entails that a ban may be imposed only if HPAI affects three or more counties in one state.
This was confirmed when Indiana veterinary authorities notified the World Organization for Animal Health of the same conditions.
Also prohibited, aside from domestic and wild birds and their products, are poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs, and semen from Indiana.
The ban likewise calls for the immediate suspension of the processing and evaluation of applications and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPSICs) for the commodities. All approved SPSICs for live domestic and wild birds are also automatically revoked.
Shipments in transit, loaded, or accepted in ports before the order’s effectivity are exempted from the ban, provided the products were slaughtered or produced before Jan. 30.
Veterinary quarantine officers and inspectors were directed to stop and confiscate all shipments of the prohibited commodities at all major ports of entry.
The order takes effect 15 days after publication on the DA’s website and the filing of copies with the Office of the National Administrative Register, and remains in force unless revoked in writing.
