(Sansubba/iStock/Getty Images)

Sweden reports bird flu outbreak as disease spreads

The Philippines bans poultry imports from France, Belgium to protect poultry, workers, consumers

Reading Time: 2 minutes Sweden has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus on a farm in the southern part of the country, the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Tuesday, as the disease spreads in Europe. The Philippines, meanwhile, has banned imports of French and Belgian poultry as a virus containment measure.


(Photo: Dave Bedard/File)

Canada’s Indo-Pacific ag office takes step forward

The joint CFIA-AAFC venture is part of a plan to diversify exports to the Indo-Pacific region

Reading Time: < 1 minute The federal government took another step yesterday toward establishing its Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food Office (IPAAO) in Manila, Philippines, with the appointment of its first executive director. Federal ag minister Lawrence MacAulay announced that Diedrah Kelly had been appointed to the post. Kelly is a long-time representative of Global Affairs Canada and recently was Canada’s […] Read more

File photo of grilled pork intestine on skewers at a street food stall in the Philippines. (Junpinzon/iStock/Getty Images)

Philippines to host Canada’s Indo-Pacific ag office

AAFC/CFIA base to be set up in Manila, Bibeau says

Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s agriculture department and food safety agency will carry out their part of the federal government’s Indo-Pacific strategy from a new office in Manila, Philippines. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced the office’s location Wednesday in Ottawa during a meeting with the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA), which represents Canada’s export-dependent ag commodity groups on […] Read more


File photo of a suspension footbridge in Thailand. (Tinnakorn Jorruang/iStock/Getty Images)

Canada to boost defence, cyber security in Indo-Pacific policy

New policy document puts focus on 'disruptive' China

Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada launched its long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy on Sunday, outlining $2.3 billion in spending to boost military and cyber security in the region and vowed to deal with a “disruptive” China while working with it on climate change and trade issues. The plan detailed in a 26-page document said Canada will tighten […] Read more

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speaks as Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and House Speaker Martin Romualdez applaud during his first State of the Nation Address, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, July 25, 2022.  Photo: Aaron Favila/Pool via Reuters

Philippines’ Marcos lays out ambitious policy agenda with farm sector in focus

Reading Time: 2 minutes Manila | Reuters – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Monday outlined ambitious plans for his six-year term in office that focus on fiscal management, infrastructure upgrades and turning the long-neglected farm sector into an engine of growth. The Philippines is beset with numerous challenges, from soaring prices, food shortages, poverty and inequities in education, but Marcos, the […] Read more


File photo of a cornfield in the northern region of Luzon in the Philippines. (Nate Hovee/iStock/Getty Images)

Marcos vows to boost Philippines’ grains output

New president/ag min aims to avert food crisis

Reading Time: < 1 minute Manila | Reuters — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vowed Monday to do what it takes to boost his country’s rice and corn production, seeking to reduce reliance on imports and avoid being hit hard by a food crisis now looming across the world. Marcos, who was sworn in as president last week and has […] Read more

File photo of Canadian beef on display in a grocery store in the Philippines. (Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Philippines ends import block on Canadian beef

Ban imposed following atypical BSE finding

Reading Time: < 1 minute The Philippines has lifted the temporary suspension on imports of Canadian beef it imposed after the discovery of Canada’s first case of BSE in six years. Manila had announced its temporary ban following the confirmation in mid-December of atypical BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in a beef cow in central Alberta. Korea imposed and later lifted […] Read more


Bulalo, a Filipino soup dish made with boiled bone-in beef shank. (Jun Pinzon/iStock/Getty Images)

China, Philippines suspend beef imports from Canada on BSE case

Reading Time: < 1 minute Winnipeg | Reuters –– China and the Philippines have suspended imports of Canadian beef due to Canada’s detection in December of a cow infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a spokesperson for Canada’s agriculture department said on Monday. The moves follow an import suspension by South Korea last month, after Canada reported its first BSE […] Read more

A macrophage (immune response) cell in early stages of infection with African swine fever virus, magnified about 1,000x. (Keith Weller photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

South Korea confirms new cases of African swine fever

Reading Time: < 1 minute Seoul | Reuters — South Korea has confirmed new cases of African swine fever at hog farms in cities near the capital Seoul after the country’s first outbreak of the deadly virus last week, the agriculture ministry said on Monday. The new case occurred at a pig farm with about 1,800 pigs in the city […] Read more