PH lifts 6-year ban on Korean meat products
MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos can now grill authentic samgyeopsal (pork belly strips) from South Korea.
After six years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finally allowed Korean processed pork meat products to enter the country starting June 16.
“[T]he temporary ban on the importation of pork meat products originating from the Republic of Korea that meet the above criteria is hereby lifted pursuant to Department of Agriculture (DA) Memorandum Order No. 23, series of 2025,” FDA Director General Paolo Teston said in FDA Order No. 2023-0790-B.
The original restriction, imposed in 2019 under DA Memorandum Order No. 26, was aimed at protecting Philippine livestock amid outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF) in different countries.
READ: Negros Occidental bars pork from ASF-hit areas
In lifting the import ban, the FDA cited the Import Risk Assessment (IRA) conducted and completed by the DA in April, which concluded that sterilized pork products from South Korea intended for export meets World Organization for Animal Health standards and are deemed a “safe commodity.
”The FDA, however, stressed that the ban on imported pork products under its previous orders continue to apply to China, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Latvia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine and Zimbabwe. —Dexter Cabalza
