Pursuant to Section 3(3), Chapter 1 in relation with Section 18(5), Chapter 4 and Section 26 (2), Chapter 5 of Title IV on Agriculture, and Section 19 (2.a), Chapter 4, Book IV on Executive Branch under Executive Order No. 292, otherwise known as the Administrative Code of 1987; Section 1765(g) of the Revised Administrative Code of 1917 as amended by Act 3639; Batas Pambansa Bilang 97; Administrative Order Nos. 5-1 series of 1977 and 49 series of 1981 of the Bureau of Animal Industry; Article 1575 of the Civil Code and with the end in view to prevent and control the spread of Pseudorabies, dangerous communicable disease of swine, the following rules and regulations are hereby prescribed for the guidance and compliance of all concerned.

Article I
Definition of Terms

1. Bureau refers to the Bureau of Industry.

2. Department refers to the Department Agriculture.

3. Director refers to the Director of the Bureau of Animal Industry.

4. Establishment refers to any commercial, backyard or government-owned piggery.

5. Disease refers to Pseudorabies.

6. Killed Vaccine refers to vaccines produced from inactivated/killed Pseudorabies viruses.

7. Licensed Biological Distributors refer to companies licensed by the government to import and distribute veterinary biologicals.

8. Non-reactors refer to animals which show Pseudorabies antibody titer in ELISA test.

9. Pseudorabies-Free Areas refer to provinces found to be free of Pseudorabies under the conditions stipulated in Article II, Section 4.

10. Pseudorabies-Free Farms refer to establishments located within the Pseudorabies-Free Areas.

11. Accredited Farms refer to establishments found to be serologically free of Pseudorabies infection titer.

12. Pseudorabies suspects refer to animals showing clinical signs typical or similar to Pseudorabies.

13. Reactors refer to animals which show Pseudorabies antibody titer in ELISA.

Article II
Monitoring of Pseudorabies

SECTION 1. Mandatory Reporting of Pseudorabies - Any person who has information of a suspected or confirmed case of Pseudorabies in any establishment must report immediately in writing to the Director.

SECTION 2. Authority to Investigate - The Director shall authorize personnel to officially investigate Pseudorabies cases/outbreaks. Authorized personnel are allowed to conduct the following:

1, Enter any establishment where Pseudorabies is suspected to be present;

2. Collect blood samples from live animals in that establishment;

3. Perform necropsy on Pseudorabies-suspects and collect samples from said animals; and

4. Recommend/institute measurers to control and prevent the spread of the disease.

SECTION 3. Survey of Pseudorabies - The Bureau shall undertake a sero-epidemiological survey to determine the extent of Pseudorabies in the Philippines.

1. The survey shall be conducted in accordance wilh (he following classification:

a) 1st Priority Areas - where the disease has been officially confirmed to be present

b) 2nd Priority Areas - where the disease is suspected to have occurred

c) 3rd Priority Areas - where the disease has not been reported

2. The Department shall shoulder all costs incurred in connection with the survey. The owners of piggeries included in the survey shall not be charged any fee. However, it shall be their duty to allow the personnel conducting the survey to enter their farms and provide assistance needed to facilitate the collection of samples and pertinent data.

Article III
Prevention and Control of Pseudorabies

SECTION 4.  Control of Pseudorabies Outbreak

1. If Pseudorabies occurs for the first time in an area, it is the policy of the government to immediately eradicate the disease in that area. Wherever it is practical to implement, the Director of BAI shall recommend the slaughter of affected and exposed animals. If a large number of animals are affected and/or exposed to the disease, regular vaccination may be implemented, the scope and duration of which shall be determined by the Director of BAI.

2. In areas where Pseudorabies has previously occurred, vaccination shall be the primary mode of control.

3. Strict quarantine shall be imposed in areas where outbreaks occur,  the duration and the coverage of which shall be determined by the BAI.

SECTION 5. Hog Movement - Sale and/or transport of breeder hogs shall be allowed only from Pseudorabies-free and Accredited Farms. Before shipment they shall first be, tested for Pseudorabies antibody titer using ELISA test to reconfirm that these animals are non-reactors.

Hogs for slaughter, shall be allowed for shipment unless such animals are clinically infected with Pseudorabies in which case, the Director of BAI may restrict such movement.

SECTION6.  Restrictions on Affected Farms - Farms affected with Pseudorabies shall be allowed to sell stocks for slaughter purposes only.

SECTION 7. Vaccination - As a general rule, vaccination against Pseudorabies is not obligatory and shall be allowed only in 1st priority areas. The BAI shall issue the list of provinces affected with the disease. However, on some occasion, vaccination may be allowed in other areas during an outbreak. In which case, vaccination shall be confined only in identified areas, and may not cover the entire province where the outbreak occurred.

In areas where the disease has subsided, and no clinical case has been observed for at least 3 years, vaccination may be discontinued, and BAI shall actively monitor the areas for possible declaration as Pseudorabies-free, 3 years after the last vaccination.

SECTION 8. Importation of Pseudorabies Vaccine - Only killed Pseudorabies vaccine shall be allowed to enter the Philippines. This vaccine shall be covered by a special import permit issued by the BAI. The following shall be the procedure for importing the vaccine:

1. The owner, manager or the veterinarian of the farm shall make a written request to the Director of BAI regarding the farm's intention to use the vaccine and indicating the number of doses needed.

2. Accompanying the letter request is the farm profile, indicating detailed information about the farm.

3. Upon approval of the request, the concerned party may approach any licensed biological distributors/importers, to supply him the necessary request.

4. The licensed biological distributors/ importers whom the farmer/clientele approached shall apply for a special permit from the BAI to import the indicated quantity of vaccines.

5. All imported vaccines shall be stored at designated cold storage approved by BAI.

6. Distributors/importers may be allowed to import vaccine as buffer stock, the quantity of which shall be determined by BAI; provided, that procurement of such vaccines, shall follow steps 1 to 3, and withdrawals from cold storage shall be directly monitored and supervised by the duly authorized personnel of BAI.

7. All used and expired permits shall be surrendered to the BAI through the Laboratory Services Division as a prerequisite for the issuance of a new permit.

Article IV
Declaration of Pseudorabies Free
Areas/Farms

SECTION 9. Provinces under any of the following conditions can be declared Pseudorabies-Free Areas:

a. Provinces without previous and active cases of Pseudorabies, no vaccination was made and found to be non-reactors.

b. Provinces with previous history of Pseudorabies but were found to be non-reactors three (3) years after the last case was observed and/or vaccination was conducted.

SECTION 10. Farms within the Pseudorabies-Free Areas shall be declared as Pseudorabies-Free Farms.

SECTION 11. Privileges of Pseudorabies-Free Farms - Owners of Pseudorabies-Free Farms shall be allowed to do the following:

1. Sell breeder animals to other farms anywhere in the Philippines except in some restricted areas.

2. Sell piglets for fattening.

3. Participate in Swine Dispersal Program, and any other govern merit -sponsored program where swine are involved.

4. Receive technical assistance from BAI.

5. Export their produce with certification from BAI.

Article V
Farm Accreditation

SECTION 12. Application - Swine farms may apply for accreditation by submitting a letter of request to the Director of BAI.

SECTION 13. Testing for Accreditation - BAI representative(s) shall be sent to the farm to collect blood samples from all breeder animals. The samples shall be tested at the BAI laboratory using ELISA. Farms found to be non-reactor may be accredited while reactor farms may reapply for accreditation six (6) months after the initial testing, accreditation to be granted only after succeeding test yields non-reaction to Pseudorabies.

SECTION 14. Cost of Testing - All the costs for the testing including succeeding monitoring shall be borne by the farms seeking accreditation.

SECTION 15. Monitoring of Accredited Farms - Accredited farms shall be monitored bi-annually or as may be determined by the Director of BAI.

SECTION 16. Privileges of Accredited Farms - Accredited farms shall have similar privileges as that of Pseudorabies-Free farms except that they could not sell breeder animals in Pseudorabies-Free areas.

SECTION 17. Vaccination in Accredited Farms - Accredited Farms may be allowed to vaccinate their herd against Pseudorabies, in case they are threatened with the disease, provided they use a gene-deleted killed vaccine with complimentary test in order to differentiate titer due to vaccination from that of infection.

SECTION 18. Cancellation of Accreditation - Certificate of Accreditation shall be cancelled once the farm becomes clinically infected or reactor to Pseudorabies. Application for re-accreditation may be done six (6) months after the cancellation. The process for re-accreditation is the same as that of accreditation.

SECTION 19. List of Pseudorabies-Free and Accredited Farms - The BAI shall issue every semester a list of Pseudorabies-Free and Accredited Farms.

Article VI
Final Provisions

SECTION 20. Penalty Clause - Any person shall contravene or violate any of the provisions of this Order or shall obstruct or impede or assist in obstructing or impeding the Secretary of Agriculture or his duly authorized representatives namely, the Director of Animal Industry and/or his authorized representatives in the implementation or execution of any of the provisions of this Order, or who shall knowingly deliver reactors to any place in the Philippines in substitution of the non-reactors identified and indicated in the shipping permit issued for the purpose, shall be liable to prosecution and upon conviction, shall be punished under the second paragraph of Section 2747 of the Revised Administrative Code of 1917 by a fine of not more than one hundred pesos or by imprisonment for not more than thirty (30) days, or both In the discretion of the court.

Further, any person who shall contravene or Me any of the provisions of this Order ding vaccination of animal or animals shall punished under the provisions of Batas Pambansa Bilang 97and its implementing rules and regulations, Administrative Order No. 49 series of 1981 and this Order, by a fine in an amount not less than two hundred pesos nor more than one thousand pesos or imprisonment for not less than thirty days nor more than six months or both at the discretion of the court.

SECTION 21. Repealing Clause - All orders, rules and regulations which are in conflict with the provisions of this Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 22. Effectivity - This Circular shall lake effect after fifteen (15) days following the completion of publication in a newspaper of general circulation and filing of three (3) copies hereof with the University of the Philippines Law Center.

Adopted: 20 July 1992