Philippines-Ban on poultry imports.

PHILIPPINES-POULTRY IMPORT BANS.

The Philippine agricultural department on Wednesday said it has temporarily banned the entry of birds and poultry products from Japan and the Czech Republic for bird flu concerns.

The Department of Agriculture said the import ban was based on a report from the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) or the Animal Health Organization, confirming outbreaks of the Avian influenza in the two countries.

Local television network ABS-CBN News quoted Agricultural Secretary Arthur Yap as saying that the ban includes "domestic and wild birds, and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen."

Meanwhile, Yap announced that the government has lifted the ban on the entry of birds and poultry from Idaho state, the United States, which has been cleared by the OIE from the bird flu.

The Philippines is one of the three countries in Southeast Asia that are bird flu-free, besides Brunei and Singapore.