DA to LGUs: Reconsider ban on processed pork products amid ASF threat

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Wednesday urged local government units (LGUs) to reconsider the ban on processed pork products following the threat of an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak.

“’Wag naman [i-ban] yung processed in can, kasi ‘yun, naluto na,” DA spokesperson Asec. Noel Reyes said in the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay in Malate, Manila. “Kasi 70 degrees celsius, patay na yung [virus] for five minutes eh, 15 minutes. Ibig sabihin yung delata, lutong luto na ‘yun, wala na yung virus.”

(They don’t have to ban the ones processed in cans because it’s already cooked. Because at 70 degrees Celsius temperature, the virus is already dead within five minutes, 15 minutes. It means those canned, it’s already cooked, the virus is gone.)

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“Pwedeng pumasok [‘yung processed pork meat], ‘wag lang yung mga live hogs, fresh (Processed pork meat can enter, only live hogs and fresh meat should not),” he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte previously ordered all LGU to comply with the agriculture department’s zoning plan to contain the spread of ASF.

READ: Gov’t agencies, LGUs told: Comply with DA’s African swine fever zoning plan

Under the zoning plan, the DA classified the country into various zones with respective movement protocols to regulate the movement of pork and pork products around the country.

Some LGUs have imposed a ban on pork products and pork-related products from ASF-affected areas.

“They [LGUs] have to reconsider it and then para maayos ang flow, hindi ma-restrict ang trade ng processed pork products (so that the flow will be continuous, and it won’t disrupt the processed pork products trade),” Reyes later stated.