The Department of Agriculture (DA) has lifted its temporary ban on poultry and poultry product imports from Illinois and Wisconsin, signaling a cautious reopening of trade while keeping Kansas under strict restrictions due to persistent avian influenza outbreaks.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. ordered the move following updated animal health reports showing that Illinois and Wisconsin no longer meet the threshold for state-wide trade restrictions under a 2016 bilateral animal health agreement between the Philippines and the US. The arrangement allows a blanket ban only when three or more counties in a US state are affected by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).
For Illinois, veterinary surveillance data showed that previous HPAI cases had been contained and were no longer spreading across multiple counties. With the risk downgraded, the DA cleared the state for the resumption of poultry imports, including meat, eggs, day-old chicks, and poultry semen, subject to existing sanitary and phytosanitary regulations.
Wisconsin received the same clearance after authorities determined that its avian influenza situation remained localized and manageable. The DA said disease monitoring and control measures in the state were sufficient to prevent wider transmission, allowing trade to resume and restoring an important source of poultry supply for the Philippines.
Kansas, however, remains on ice. According to a January 19 report from the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, several outbreaks of H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza were confirmed in multiple counties across the state, breaching the agreed three-county threshold. The DA cited the rapid spread of the virus and the need to protect the local poultry industry as reasons for maintaining the ban.
“We have to strike a careful balance,” Tiu Laurel said. “Our priority is food security, but that cannot come at the expense of public health or the safety of our local poultry population. The poultry sector represents billions in investments and supports thousands of jobs, especially in rural communities. Protecting it is non-negotiable.”
Under the continuing restrictions, all imports of domestic and wild birds and their products from Kansas—including poultry meat, eggs, day-old chicks, and semen—remain prohibited. The DA has also suspended the processing and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances and revoked previously approved permits for live birds.
Only shipments already in transit and produced on or before December 19, 2025 may enter, provided they meet strict documentation requirements. Non-compliant shipments will be stopped and confiscated at ports of entry.
The DA said the selective lifting of the ban underscores its risk-based approach to trade—opening doors where disease threats have eased, while keeping them firmly shut where outbreaks continue to pose a clear danger.
