WHEREAS, all accredited meat processing plants that needs buffalo meat shall have equal privilege to source their raw materials from India;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARTHUR C. YAP, Secretary, Department of Agriculture, by the powers vested on me, do hereby amend Section 4 of AO 31, Series of 2002, allowing any DA-NMIC Accredited Meat Processing Plants to import buffalo meat from India, provided the following conditions:

1.    That DA-NMIC Accredited Meat Processing Plants shall strictly comply the requirements specifically on paragraph 3.2, section 3 of AO # 31 Series of 2002, which states that meat, previously deboned and deglanded shall be processed into a finished product and has been subjected to thorough cooking by heating so that an internal temperature of 70 degrees centigrade or greater is maintained for a minimum of 30 minutes or to any equivalent treatment which has been demonstrated to inactivate the FMD virus.

All orders, rules and regulations inconsistent hereto is hereby revoked or amended accordingly.

This Order shall take effect immediately fifteen (15) days after publication from the UP Law Center.

Adopted: 05 Oct. 2004


(SGD.) ARTHUR C. YAP
Secretary