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- Potato Wart Agreement Reached
August 7, 2001 - Prince Edward Island (PEI) potatoes will be allowed into the U.S. this year after Canadian and U.S. officials agreed to a surveillance program for potato wart.
The mutually agreeable, inspection-based plan for potato wart was announced Aug. 1 between the USDA and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
"This agreement is based upon scientific principles and multiple tiers of inspection that will ensure safeguards are in place to protect against the spread of this disease," a USDA press release stated.
Through the agreement, CFIA will continue to monitor and survey every field on PEI for potato wart, based upon a three-year plan, provided conditions are favorable for the disease to emerge. Surveillance activities must be conducted on all active potato fields outside the prohibited movement area. Once a field has been sampled according to the agreed-upon protocol and the results are negative, the field can be recognized as free of potato wart. There will be no packaging or washing requirements. After three years, all fields on PEI should have been inspected satisfactorily, according to the USDA.
"We’re pleased to be able to once again ship our product into the marketplace in an orderly fashion," said Ivan Noonan, general manager of the Prince Edward Island Potato Board, Charlottetown. He also said the industry plans to follow the agreement "to the letter of the law." Last year’s ban on PEI potatoes cost growers on the island an estimated $50 million. The island plants 109,000 acres of potatoes, half of which are used for processing. About 12% of the crop is normally shipped to the U.S.
Some U.S. potato industry officials believe the USDA should be cautious in allowing island seed shipments until the industry is sure the plan is working.
"If we reduce the standards too quickly, without knowing if the surveillance plan can be enforced, that’s an undue risk we don’t need," said Don Flannery, assistant executive director of the Maine Potato Board, Presque Isle.
Potatoes grown in 2000 on PEI were prohibited from entering the U.S. in October 2000, when potato wart was detected on the island in one field. On Dec. 29, 2000, USDA offered a plan for allowing the movement of tablestock potatoes from PEI to the U.S. and within Canada. The Canadian government refused to accept the conditions set forth by the U.S. Finally, on April 25 the two sides agreed on conditions in which PEI potatoes from the 2000 crop could be exported to the U.S. Seed and bulk shipments were not allowed in the U.S. under that agreement
Potato wart was eradicated from the United States in 1992. If the disease were to reappear, it could be devastating to the U.S. potato industry because of potential losses in production and export markets. In addition, the spores of the fungus can remain viable in contaminated soil for many years. Until October 2000, potato wart in Canada occurred only in Newfoundland.
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