Cebu Bans Pork Products from Bohol for 60 days

Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia has issued a 60-day temporary ban on the entry of pork and pork products from Bohol Province following recent confirmed cases of African Swine Fever (ASF).

Although the Bureau of Animal Industry has also tagged Cebu as having confirmed ASF cases, the Cebu Provincial Government contested the findings saying these were mostly hog cholera and its confirmed cases have long been controlled.

Bohol Province also has a continuing ban on pork products and live hogs coming from Cebu Province.

In Garcia’s Executive Order 21 dated August 8, the Governor also suspended previously issued passes for “Livestock Transport” trucks coming from Bohol.

The EO cited the cases of ASF in the Municipality of Pilar in Bohol.

“With the confirmed cases of ASF in Bohol, there is an urgent need to temporarily ban entry of live hogs, sows, piglets, boar semen, and pork-related products from the Province of Bohol to protect the hog industry of Cebu,” Garcia said in her EO.

Garcia is also calling on all law enforcement agencies including the Police, Coast Guard, Cebu Port Authority, the Mactan Cebu International Airport, and Mayors to monitor the “strict implementation of the EO”.

While the strict ban is imposed for Bohol, neighboring Negros Oriental Province is currently working on a deal to open its borders for the free flow transport of pork products.

Both Negros Oriental and Cebu agree to work out a common protocol between them in the handling of ASF and other hog diseases.