The avian flu outbreak was detected in a farm in San Luis municipality in Pampanga province, north of the capital Manila, which later spread to five neighbouring farms. There has been no case of human transmission although health officials are conducting checks on farm workers.

“We have declared a one-km quarantine radius with the epicenter being San Luis. All fowls found within the area will be culled and buried, and the estimated population is 200,000,” Pinol told reporters at a news conference.

“That would include every bird, every duck, every quail, every poultry within the vicinity of the quarantine area.”

The volume of birds to be culled was half of Pinol’s initial estimate of 400,000, which he said was based on a preliminary evaluation and was later revised after inspection.

The government’s report on Friday to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) described the flu virus in affected birds as an H5 subtype of highly pathogenic (high-path) avian influenza.

Initial tests ruled out high-path H5N1 as the virus strain, Dr. Celia Carlos told reporters, and samples will be sent to Australia for further testing.

“The Department of Health is doing surveillance of possible human cases especially concentrating on people who have been exposed to the affected animals or poultry,” Carlos said.

Culling should be completed within the next three days, said Pinol. The virus may have come from migratory birds from China or smuggled ducks, also from China, he said.

There were indications as early as April of bird flu hitting one farm, but the situation worsened in July, with around 37,000 birds dying during the period, Pinol said.

The Philippines is the latest country in Asia, Europe and Africa where the bird flu viruses have spread in recent months. Many strains only infect birds, but the H7N9 strain has led to human cases, including fatalities, in China.

— Reporting for Reuters by Manolo Serapio Jr. and Enrico dela Cruz. Includes files from AGCanada.com Network staff.

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In a landmark ruling in December, the country’s Supreme Court struck down a 2002 government regulation that allowed the import of genetically modified organisms (GMO) and imposed a temporary ban until new rules were formulated.

The order covers imports of corn, soybeans, soybean meal and sorghum, among others. The biggest impact would be on soymeal, the Philippines’ top GMO import at two million tonnes a year.

The government challenged the ban by motioning for a reconsideration by the top court shortly after the ruling, officials said. For now, existing import permits remain valid, although no new ones will be issued as they expire.

“We are aware of the urgency of coming up with the new rules,” said Dr. Jaime Montoya, a government health scientist who heads an inter-agency panel that drafted new guidelines for GMO use and imports.

Weak demand for U.S. soymeal cargoes overseas has dragged front-month soymeal on the Chicago Board of Trade to near six-year lows this month, extending a December rout partly sparked by the Philippine court ruling.

The panel on Friday began a series of public consultations on a draft joint administrative order to be issued by five government agencies including the Department of Agriculture. Two more will be held next week.

The draft order should be ready for signing by heads of the five agencies on Feb. 16, Montoya said.

Farm officials said feed millers can ship in GMO products until their import permits expire.

One permit will expire in March and five more later this year, said Merle Palacpac, chief of the plant quarantine service division at the Bureau of Plant Industry.

“We are maintaining status quo since a (motion for reconsideration) has been filed,” Palacpac told Reuters.

Estefania de Vera, president of the Philippine Association of Feed Millers, said her group has not received any reports of shipment disruption so far following the court ruling.

“Our concern is the succeeding ones if they stopped issuing new permits,” she said. “We hope this (administrative order) will be out soon to cover and continue the flow.”

If GMO soymeal imports are banned, Philippine buyers would need to purchase non-GMO supply that would easily be $80-$100 a tonne more expensive, traders said.

— Reporting for Reuters by Manolo Serapio Jr. and Erik dela Cruz.

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Last week, the Supreme Court struck down a 2002 government regulation that allowed the import of genetically modified organisms (GMO) and imposed a temporary ban until new rules were formulated.

The order will halt the Southeast Asian country’s imports of soybean meal, which amount to around two million tonnes a year and mainly come from the U.S. Nearly all of the imports of the animal feed are genetically modified.

The Supreme Court’s decision to temporarily ban the “contained use, field testing, propagation and commercialization, and importation” of GMO came alongside a ruling to permanently halt the development of GMO eggplant following a case filed by a group led by the Philippine unit of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

“What the Supreme Court is saying, I was informed, is to come up with new rules,” Philippine Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said by telephone on Thursday.

“In the meantime, there will be a motion for reconsideration to be filed once we have received a copy of the decision.”

Such a request would mean there should be no ban while the new rules are being drafted, he added.

Markets have been sensitive to GMO issues in big Asian consumers. In November 2013, China began rejecting U.S. corn shipments saying they were tainted with a GMO Syngenta corn variety approved in the U.S., but not in China. Beijing has since eased the restrictions.

‘Food crisis’

The court ruling has also sparked alarm in the Philippine food industry.

“We may plunge into a food crisis if this is implemented,” said Ric Pinca, former vice-president of the Philippine Association of Feed Millers.

“You would not have pork, chicken, and fish available in the market.”

Banning GMO soymeal imports would mean that Philippine buyers need to buy non-GMO supply which would be easily US$80-$100 a tonne more expensive, said a Manila-based importer.

“Are we affluent enough as a country to afford that? And there is not a lot of non-GMO cargo available,” he said, adding that most soymeal available from the U.S. and Argentina, another major source for Manila, is genetically modified.

The Philippines gets nearly all of its soymeal needs from abroad, averaging two million to 2.2 million tonnes a year, importers say.

“It would directly affect my business because I have contracts in place that were bought and sold even before this came out,” the Manila-based importer said.

— Reporting for Reuters by Enrico Dela Cruz and Manolo Serapio Jr.

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