SEOUL, 30 October 2019 ? The Philippines successfully secured approval from the Korean government for the accreditation and registration of 3 Philippine poultry facilities to export chicken meat to South Korea.

LDP Farms Food Corporation (LDP), Carino and Sons Agri-Development, Inc (CASADI) and Ana's Breeder Farms, Inc (ABFI) successfully secured export accreditation after final approval was issued by the Korean government on 29 October 2019, following compliance with the requirements of South Korea's Ministry of Food, Drug and Safety (MFDS) and the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA-APQA).

These poultry facilities were able to satisfy the stringent requirements of the MFDS and MAFRA-APQA after the Philippine Embassy through the Philippine Agriculture Office (PAO) Seoul, together with regulatory agencies under the Philippine Department of Agriculture such as the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), facilitated the dispatch of an ROK On-Site Inspection Mission to the Philippines from 23- 30 September 2019 to conduct the onsite inspection of these poultry facilities.

Ambassador Noe A. Wong of the Philippine Embassy in Korea welcomed the accreditation of the re-entry of chicken meat exports to Korea, which was achieved through the efforts of the Philippine Agriculture Office in Seoul and the Department of Agriculture. Moreover, Ambassador Wong commented that "the South Korean government's accreditation of Philippine poultry facilities augurs well for the expansion of chicken exports to South Korea as it signifies the continuing interest of South Korea to source chicken meat from the Philippines in view of the latter's avian influenza-free status."

The Philippines was first granted permission by the MFDS and QIA in 2013 to engage in the export of chicken meat to South Korea. However, following the outbreak of H5 avian influenza, the Korean government temporarily suspended the imports of Philippine chicken and pet birds on August 12, 2017 under "Import Sanitary Condition of Philippine chicken (MAFRA Notification)" and "Import Sanitary condition of birds except poultry (MAFRA Notification)."

The Philippine Agriculture Office (PAO) Seoul closely coordinated with BAI and the APQA for the timely submission of requirements to lift the temporary suspension. The removal of the temporary suspension to import poultry and pet birds from the Philippines was finally decided by MAFRA on July 4, 2019, after accomplishing its final stage of public consultation to allow market access of Philippine poultry products to Korea. END