MANILA: The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Tuesday announced a temporary ban on importing foot-and-mouth diseases (FMD)-susceptible animals, products, and by-products from the Republic of Trkiye following a reported FMD outbreak in cattle in Cugun, Merkez, Kirsehir on Sept. 9. DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. issued Memorandum Order 42 last October 4 imposing the temporary import ban to prevent the spread of the FMD virus in the country. "We're imposing an import ban to mitigate the risk of FMD transmission to our local animal population," he said in a statement. Under the order, the processing, evaluation, and issuance of the sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance of the said commodities are immediately suspended. All shipments from Trkiye that are in transit or accepted into ports may be allowed entry if they were slaughtered or produced on or before Aug. 26. Source: Philippines News Agency