THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has temporarily banned imports of live cattle, beef products and processed animal proteins derived from cattle from the United Kingdom following an outbreak of mad cow disease in North Ayrshire, Scotland.
The ban was imposed through Department Circular 50, signed by Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Sept. 21 and posted on the DA website on Tuesday. The order followed an official notification from Dr. Christine Middlemiss, UK chief veterinary officer and delegate to the World Organization for Animal Health, confirming an outbreak of classical C-type bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in North Ayrshire. Tests conducted by Eurofins and the UK Animal and Plant Health Agency in Weybridge confirmed the disease. BSE, commonly known as mad cow disease, is a fatal neurological disorder in cattle caused by prions — abnormally folded proteins that damage the cattle’s brain and nervous system. An infected animal may not show symptoms for several years. The DA said reported BSE cases could pose a risk to consumers because of the disease’s association with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (VCJD) in humans. VCJD is a rare but fatal brain disease linked to eating beef contaminated with BSE. It was first reported in the UK in 1996.Symptoms may appear years after exposure. Once symptoms develop, patients typically survive for only one to two years, with an average survival period of 13 to 14 months. Under the circular, the DA suspended the processing, evaluation and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPSICs) for cattle and related products from the UK. An SPSIC certifies that an imported agricultural product meets Philippine health and safety requirements. Previously approved clearances covering UK cattle and related products that have not yet arrived at Philippine ports were also revoked. The DA likewise ordered veterinary quarantine officers at all ports of entry to conduct stringent inspections of arriving shipments of cattle, beef and other cattle-derived products. The circular takes effect upon its publication on the DA website and filing with the Office of the National Administrative Register at the University of the Philippines Law Center.
