Cebu intensifies anti-ASF measures

CEBU – The province of Cebu remains free from the African Swine Fever (ASF) and continues to stay vigilant even before the Department of Agriculture (DA) heightened the alert against the virus.

To further protect the province’s P11-billion hog industry, the Capitol will impose additional measures as 39 provinces in the country have been affected by ASF. Only accredited truckers from Cebu are allowed to transport live hogs to other provinces up to Matnog port in Sorsogon, the southernmost province in Luzon, through their respective drop-off points in the provinces.

However, returning trucks will have to take a downtime period of seven days before hauling the next batch of pigs for delivery. During this time, trucks must be cleaned and disinfected.

The Office of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia will issue the accreditation to the truckers delivering hogs outside Cebu. This will ensure the compliance with the mandatory downtime period.

Trucks returning to Cebu after delivering live hogs and pork products to areas not affected by ASF will not be required to do the downtime period. All trucks from Luzon, Mindanao and Region 8 will be not allowed to enter Cebu. 

The additional measures were agreed upon by Garcia and representatives of the Central Visayas Pork Producers Cooperative, Philippine Coast Guard, Cebu Port Authority, Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Industry, Dr. Mary Rose Vincoy of the Provincial Veterinary Office, and the local governments of Daanbantayan, Carmen, Danao, Bogo, and Tudela.

Garcia is set to issue an executive order outlining these measures aimed to prevent the ASF virus from entering the province. Other additional measures include mandatory disinfection of outgoing and returning trucks, livestock transport carrier, reefer vans; submission of Disinfection Clearance issued by Veterinary Quarantine from the Port of Origin; submission of Route Plan at the border prior to shipment; and submission of regulatory documents such as veterinary health certificate and shipping permit. (Mylen Manto)

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