U.S. POTATO INDUSTRY SUPPORTS CFIA ACTION TO PROTECT CANADIAN PROVINCES AND U.S. AFTER ADDITIONAL DISEASE DETECTIONS

The announcement by Canada's Acting Chief Plant Health Officer, David Bailey, to protect other Canadian provinces and the U.S. preventing the spread of potato wart from Prince Edward Island (PEI) was welcomed by U.S. potato growers and industry. Shipments of PEI seed potatoes to other Canadian provinces are suspended along with the implementation of enhanced measures for cleaning other fresh potatoes from PEI.  For the U.S., all exports of non-processed potatoes from PEI are suspended until further notice. Additionally, equipment used in fields in PEI face new restrictions before crossing into the U.S. Should potato wart be transmitted to the United States, the U.S. potato industry would likely lose access to all international fresh potato markets, costing the industry over $225 million in annual sales.

The announcement comes after potato wart was confirmed on October 1 and 14, 2021 on two PEI farms where potatoes were being grown for processing. On November 2, 2021, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced the suspension of the movement of seed potatoes from PEI to the United States.  In response to that limited action, last week the National Potato Council (NPC) and 13 state potato organizations sent a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack asking for the U.S. government’s support to prevent the spread of potato wart to the United States by suspending the importation of all potatoes grown in PEI, not just seed potatoes. USDA took scienced based action in support of U.S. family potato farms, which is appreciated. New restrictions on PEI potatoes enacted for Canadian provinces and the U.S. became effective midnight November 22.