Manila: The Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) said the commercialization of AVAC live vaccines against African swine fever (ASF) is necessary to sustain gains in the livestock industry.

According to Philippines News Agency, the BAI made the statement after the livestock sector secured a 5.1 percent growth in the first quarter of the year, coinciding with the continuous decline in ASF-affected barangays nationwide.

In an interview Wednesday, BAI Director Christian Daquigan said the AVAC live vaccines have been proven safe and effective under the government-controlled vaccination program. 'We need to go to the commercialization of the vaccine kasi kailangan natin ito and na-found out naman natin na maganda 'yung result (because we really need this and we have already found out that the results are good),' he said.

In December 2025, the Department of Agriculture (DA) expressed hope to secure approval for the commercialization of the vaccine by the first quarter of 2026 following the recorded high efficacy rate. The Palace earlier reported a 90-percent efficacy rate of AVAC live vaccines under the government's monitored release nationwide.

The BAI said the process of commercialization may be expedited once the regulatory functions for animal health products and equipment are transferred to the BAI from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), provided that complete documents are submitted. ''Yung vaccine, matatapos 'yung registration niya sa FDA ng bandang July (The vaccine's registration under the FDA will expire around July),' Daquigan said.

'Then after nun, dahil doon sa bagong law, lilipat na sa amin 'yung registration sa (after that, because of the new law, the registration will be transferred to us at the) Bureau of Animal Industry,' he added. The transfer will be done under the Republic Act 12308 or the Animal Industry Development and Competitiveness Act (AIDCA).

Besides the AVAC live vaccines, Daquigan said the BAI is now reviewing applications from six vaccine suppliers from the United States, Vietnam, South Korea, and Thailand. Daquigan, however, deferred to disclose the names of vaccine providers and the possible timeline for its approval for use.