Raw materials for hog feeds from Mindanao to be subjected to 20-day quarantine
Photo courtesy of Bureau of Animal Industry FB page
CEBU CITY, Philippines – While Cebu remains free from African Swine Fever (ASF), raw materials needed to produce hog feeds sourced from Mindanao will be subjected to a 20-day quarantine starting this March.
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia announced that the Capitol and feed millers in Cebu have agreed on placing raw products imported from Mindanao under quarantine.
“It was agreed that raw materials, including corn and others, from Mindanao shall undergo a 20-day quarantine before they will be mixed and used for the production of the feeds,” Garcia said in Cebuano on Wednesday, February 26.
The move, which will take effect on March 9, is part of the provincial government’s preventive measures against ASF. The governor said the quarantine period will allow millers to have time to prepare biosecurity measures needed to screen hog-related products from Mindanao.
The governor met with representatives from local feed millers in the province last Monday, February 24.
Garcia said the need to quarantine raw materials from Mindanao, such as corn, was brought up after it was found out that Cebu’s feed millers mainly source their raw materials from the region.
However, she assured that the supply and demand behavior of the hog feeds in the province will not be adversely affected, adding that only 300,000 bags of feeds are outsourced monthly.
Garcia said local feed suppliers in Cebu produce around 1.2 million bags of feeds per month.
“Based on international standards, the need to quarantine for 10 days on the presumption that it has been awhile since the materials were shipped. But since the distance between Cebu and Mindanao is too close, we decided to extend it up to 20 days,” she added in a mix of English and Cebuano.
The Capitol has effectively banned feeds coming from Luzon, in line with Executive Order (EO) No. 8 that expands the province’s pork ban to pork-related products, byproducts, and commingled food products from Luzon, Mindanao, Eastern Visayas and areas affected by ASF.
EO No. 8 was issued last February 19.
Administrative Circular No. 12-2019 from the Department of Agriculture (DA) pertaining to the National Zoning and Movement Plan for ASF served as the basis for the issuance of such memo. /elb
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
