MANILA, April 7 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Department of Agriculture on Monday said it has temporarily banned importing wild and domestic birds from Belgium after the European country reported an outbreak of bird flu.

The ban also covers avian products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs, and semen, said the department's press office.

Shipments from Belgium that were in transit, loaded, or accepted at the port before the official communication of the import ban will be allowed entry, provided the products were slaughtered or produced before Feb. 3.

Shipments not meeting these conditions will either be sent back to Belgium, shipped to a third country, or seized and destroyed. Veterinary quarantine officers are required to confiscate all non-compliant shipments, except for heat-treated products.

Belgian veterinary authorities had earlier informed the World Organization for Animal Health of an H5N1 High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza outbreak in Sint-Niklaas, Oost-Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen, which was detected among domestic birds on Feb. 17. Enditem

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