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FSM food ban may be lifted next month
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Posted on Aug 21 2000
The government will lift by next month the ban imposed on food products coming from the Federated States of Micronesia after lowering the risks of a cholera outbreak in the Northern Marianas.
Lands and Natural Resources Sec. Joaquin A. Tenorio said a decision will be made in the next 30 days, although the CNMI has in recent weeks eased restrictions on the entry of some of the products imported from FSM.
“We will eventually lift the food ban… in the next month or so perhaps because the risk of us getting cholera from Pohnpei is going down substantially,” he told reporters last week.
Mr. Tenorio likewise noted several actions taken by the FSM government to contain the cholera outbreak in Pohnpei, which have minimized potential spread of the bacteria in neighboring islands in the region.
Two weeks ago, DLNR had ordered its quarantine division to allow entry of all fish, shellfish and crustaceans originating from FSM provided they are frozen in an ice chest or cooler packed with ice from the port of embarkation.
The move relaxed the ban imposed last June by Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio on the heels of the food poisoning incident at a wedding reception here that sent more than a hundred guests to the hospital. The Department of Public Health later traced the cause of the poisoning to seafood imported from FSM.
According to the DLNR chief, the ban is intended to ensure that residents here will not catch the cholera epidemic affecting other islands in Micronesia.
“We are just trying to prevent any importation of food that is not safe for us,” he explained. “We are using our quarantine regulations to control the introduction of food that we don’t think that is safe. We are minimizing the risk of any cholera that is coming to our islands.”
Dr. Tenorio, along with DPH Sec. Joseph Kevin Villagomez, held talks with FSM and Guam governments recently to discuss the impact of the cholera epidemic as well as to formulate plan of actions to prevent the spread of the dreaded disease.
