Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the Philippine government banned the entry of pork meat from China, following the outbreak of a more virulent strain of African Swine Fever (ASF) in that country.

"Those that come from China were banned. We do not allow, we do not give permits to import pork meat from China. It’s banned," Dar said in the ''Laging Handa'' public briefing on Saturday.

"The problem is we have to monitor the smuggled pork product from China," he added.

Dar said the government only allows the entry of pork meat from ASF free countries.

"We intensified the first border examination in many ways. We are doing that with the, of course (with the) Bureau of Animal Industry together with the National Meat Inspection Service, in tandem with the Department of Health and in regard to tariff measures with the Bureau of Customs," he said.

"So as long as the pork meat undergoes the right process and legal importation, there is a chance that the ASF virus from another country will not be able to enter the Philippines, because we only allow importation of pork meat from ASF free countries," he added. Robina Asido/DMS