Philippines lifts ban on cured pork from Italy

The Philippines has lifted a temporary ban on cured pork products from Italy. The ban was imposed by the country's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August last year due to outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF) in the European country. In a memo signed Dec. 28 by the Department of Agriculture but issued by the FDA on Thursday, the ban was lifted "following the minimum standard and parameters to achieve the appropriate level of protection and inactivation of the ASF virus." It added that, based on the DA's Import Risk Assessment on 8 November, the "estimated overall risk of introducing ASF through cured meat is low in products such as dry-cured hams". The order does not cover other pork ...