Belize’s Poultry Health Regulations Recognized Regionally

Belize has enacted regulations to further protect the poultry industry from health hazards. The Poultry Health Regulations 2022 came into effect in November 2022. And a few days ago, the Eleventh European Development Fund Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Project praised the move by the Belize Agricultural Health Authority (BAHA). A media release from Bridgetown, Barbados, says the regulations will enable the BAHA, in collaboration with poultry farmers, to effectively prevent, control, and eradicate poultry disease. It also stated that Belize now has regulations that will facilitate measures for improved production, market access and trade of poultry. We spoke with the Manager of the Belize Poultry Association, Armando Cowo, about the regulations and the impacts on the local poultry industry.

Armando Cowo

Armando Cowo, Manager, Belize Poultry Association

“What has happened is that when we had the 2015 AI low pathogenic in Spanish Lookout outbreak, there was not a proper regulation to do what BAHA did in Spanish Lookout. So, out of that experience they decide they need to improve the regulations. We started working on it from then. So, it is a document that has been quite some time in the making. Finally we got it done last year. It speaks to one, control for diseases, bi security, registration of establishments, and movement control in times of disease, how do we move poultry products and poultry whatever. First of all we need to safeguard the industry. So, if you are a farmer and you are in an industry where you need to control an outbreak, you need to control that so you don’t pass to other communities. We would restrict and limit your movements and the movement of your animals, not necessarily you but your animals and this document allows for that.”

Paul Lopez

“I imagine from the export industry it would provide some sense of security that certain protocols and regulations are being followed?”

Armando Cowo

“It gives whoever wants to trade with us confidence that we are doing the right thing; we are stumping out any disease that comes here as quickly as possible. Therefore they can trust that once we4 have that certification that the disease is in control they can trust our products.”